Angel to My Hell
by Celestial Moon
Summary: A young boy's life takes a turn for the worse and keep tumbling down hill aftward. But when two rogue boys help him, is it enough to turn his awkward life rightside up? [AkuRoku][Complete]
1. Unexpected Meeting

Disclaimer: Throughout the story, it'll be the same: I own nothing according to Kingdom Hearts except for this story! (Unless said otherwise, who knows the surprises along the way)

Author's Note: Sorry if it's too short (or too long), however your perception is. There isn't much happening now, but its only the beginning of the story and I promise it'll be better.

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Two feet scrambled onto the pavement, a car zooming past with the horn blaring the words shouted by the boy who was now sitting on the curb of the road. He stood and brushed the dirt and grit from his slightly tattered and baggy pants before shoving his hands into the pouch of his worn black hoodie. Already forgetting the crazy driver, the boy's mind returned to his home where his father currently resided, probably drunk off of his ass and waiting for his son to come home from his morning walk. Even then, it was probably crazy to take a walk when it was almost winter and the temperature slowly decreasing as the day grew later. But the boy didn't seem effected by the slightly cold weather; he just kept his head down, cerulean eyes glued to the sidewalk as he watched each of his feet step forward.

Abruptly, his thoughts were jarred as his back made a sudden impact with the brick wall he was walking along, the back of his head making contact as well. Letting out a small string of curses, he glared up to find the culprit staring down at him. The boy rubbed the back of his head with a hand as he took in the features. Bright red hair stuck out from under a black beanie in what seemed to be spikes and a pair of striking emerald orbs contrasted the feature. He also wore a long sleeved shirt that had Puma written across the chest in maroon words and holes in the sleeves where his thumbs poked out of. The man also wore a pair of black jeans with faded white splotching random areas and a pair of shoes poked out from underneath the hem of the pants, the brand indistinguishable from his view.

"Watch where the hell you're going," snapped the younger male. Completely ignoring the rude comment, the redhead continued down the sidewalk without an apology, leaving the blonde fuming and glaring at his back.

"Axel! Damn you, stop walking so fast!" The voice of another male invaded the young male's fuming thoughts, causing him to look to his left, where the redhead had came from. Running down the sidewalk was a person who seemed partly skater yet.. partly rocker. His dirty blonde hair was styled as a rather messy mullet; his clothes consisted of a zip up gray jacket and a light blue shirt underneath with a picture that couldn't really be distinguished at that distance. His blue jeans, slightly girlish, looked faded and his shoes were pure white save for the thick black line that ran above the edge of the soles and a few random black squares in a checkered design. The older teenage boy stopped in front of the younger one, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "Um.. sorry about that. He's just having a bad day," he said as soon as he could talk again, offering a small apologetic smile as he straightened and glanced at the boy. From a distance, he had seen the whole scene and knew that Axel hadn't apologized. A quick scan of the young blonde's appearance clearly stated why; he clearly looked like the son of a hobo, or at least one himself. "Well, the name's Demyx. That's Axel, the one up ahead. Um.. are you new around here or something? 'Cause you look like you're a little lost."

The young boy stuffed his hands back in his hoodie pouch, an irritated look on his face. "No." It was the only word he offered before he began his walk to the left, leaving Demyx slightly confused. Maybe the kid wasn't lost or new at all, maybe even a real hobo. The thought of it left the older teen feeling even worse for his friend's treatment.

Placing a hand on his hip and raking a hand through his messy hair, he sighed. "Hey, kid, you hungry? I wouldn't mind taking you along, as a way to make up for my friend's rudeness," he said, hoping for the better of the outcome. "You do look kinda hungry, y-"

"Do you always assume what people look like?" the boy interrupted gruffly, cerulean orbs trained on Demyx. The older boy was slightly taken back by the quiet outburst, but he collected himself with a silly grin. Yet just as the boy was about to turn around and leave, his stomach protested against his decision. Giving in, he turned back toward Demyx and let him lead the way, the silence breaking not long after.

"So... why are you wandering around on your own?" began Demyx, his hands clasped together behind his head. When he didn't answer, he glanced down at the kid. Now that he had a closer look, he noticed that his blonde hair seemed a bit dirty and he had a couple light smudges of dirt or mud on his face.

"Do you have a staring problems?" came the voice of the young boy, s napping Demyx out of his current thoughts. His sapphire orbs collided with cerulean ones, the foofy grin back on his face.

"Sorry about that..." he muttered, redirecting his gaze to the sidwalk. "Do you have a name?" When no answer came to him, Demyx looked down only to see a confused face looking up at him. "I don't think we want to keep calling you 'kid,' you know."

It took about a minute for him to debate and answer the question. "I'm actually used to it.. but I guess you can call me Roxas."

The pair finally reached a fast food restaurant and Roxas looked up at it with hunger swimming in his eyes and his stomach about to protest again if he didn't get any food soon. Arby's wasn't as popular, but it still had fairly decent food that kept him coming back whenever he had any spare change, which was very rare. Following Demyx across the street and inside, Roxas barely noticed that Axel was sitting in the second booth from the door. It was the flaming red hair that had caught his attention, but he quickly ignored it so he wouldn't erupt into a fit of anger that was highly unneeded. Plus, he was just too hungry to care at the moment. Staring at the menu, he couldn't possibly make up his mind, let alone eat too much and go home with a full stomach.

"I. euh.. A.. Jamocha Shake," he finally uttered, scratching the back of his head. "I'm gonna go find a seat. Thanks.. in advance." Stepping away from the counter, he left Demyx to order his own food and looked for a pleasing seat. There was one that he favored in the corner by the windows, but his beeline was interrupted and he was jerked to the side and suddenly seated inside of a booth. Surprisingly, Axel was sitting across from him, but only for a second before he stood and headed to Demyx. Shrugging it off, Roxas pulled out a pair of headphones and placed them over his ears, turning on his scavanged Ipod. SR-71 blared out, blocking the quiet voices of the older boys as he stared outside at the empty streets.

"Why the hell did you bring him here? We don't need another person tagging along, let alone a _kid_," muttered Axel, emerald eyes glaring defiantly at his friend. "If you haven't noticed, it looks like he hasn't showered in a month and his clothes don't look too clean either. Were you smoking crack or something this morning or are you just plain fucked up in the head?"

Demyx ignored the insults, his look as intense as Axel's. "If _you_ didn't know any better, I doubt he's a homeless kid. I just think he has a really poor family and that your judgement was rather.. uncalled for. Axel, you can't just walk around and assume that every kid who looks less cleaner than you are all the same; meaning they aren't all hobos. They're just a little less fortunate, okay?" he countered, flashing a kind smile to the cashier when presented with their ordered food and paid the appropriate amount of munny. "Think of me as a softy all you want, but I just can't see how you can compare our living to someone else's lifestyle."

Axel grumbled under his breath. His friend was just making him seem like the bad guy when all he did was completely **_nothing_**. After Demyx slid inside the booth opposite of Roxas, Axel sat next to his friend and propped his elbow on the table, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. Life was cruel, that was true, but he couldn't blame his friend for optimistic thinking. But he could blame him for being a little _too_ optimistic at times. He let his arm slip and fall on top of his other one and his head followed suit, letting out an abrupt sigh in frustration. An elbow then jarred his ribs and he snapped his head up to glare at Demyx, who was offering a Bacon Beef 'n Chedder sandwich, one of his favorites. Instantly taking it without a complaint, he unwrapped it and began eating.

Everything was quiet for a while before Demyx opened his mouth. "So do you really hate the kid that much?" he asked after making sure he was still listening to his music. The question caused Axel to stop chewing and his emerald gaze clashed with sapphire orbs. Rolling his eyes, he looked away and swallowed.

"I don't know, I just... don't know," he said, unable to answer the question clearly. He didn't know why he was having difficulty, or why he even had such a strong grudge against the kid without knowing him. "I guess I'm just being a little difficult today. You know my tolerance for anything is pretty low on these types of days."

His friend nodded, knowing exactly how he was. They _were_ roommates in the little apartment they call a home. Demyx began wondering how much spare room they had left and if it was a possibility to have the kid over a couple of times. For the short amount of time he knew Roxas, he was rather comfortable and, if he could get the boy talking more, he'd probably be fun, too. Leaning forward, he stared intently on Roxas before the boy finally glanced over at him, then did a double take with a confused face.

"What are you doing?" he asked, music paused in wait for an answer. He took the time to take another drink from his Jamocha shake, wondering what was wrong with these two. They were anything but ordinary, a little too weird for his own good, probably. But that didn't explain why he was still sitting in Arby's with them when he could have easily left when he got his order.

"Nothing in particular.. So do you have a family? Friends?" Demyx ventured, taking a bite of his own sandwich. He was just curious, as well as trying to make an attempt at starting a conversation. But he didn't know if it was going to go so well, seeing as the kid was stubborn and had a bad temper. _Not too far from Axel, now that I think about it..._ he thought flatly, glancing at his friend.

"Well, yeah. I live with my dad on the other side of town. But we don't do much together. He's always working or doing something important, so he barely has enough free time. And my mom.. she's.. on a business trip. In some big city a long way from here," he said nonchalantly, his bright blue gaze now looking outside of the window. Even as the words reached Demyx, however, he couldn't help but feel that half of the words he heard was false.

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Hope you liked it! Chapter 2 is already in works and I'll post it ASAP! Sorry if it seems a little dull, as I've said before. ; 


	2. Breaking the Habit

Author's Note: Would have had it finished and submitted yesterday, but stupid ISTEP exhausted and fried meh brain! T-T So I'm pretty glad it's over. Well, here's the second chapter, hope you like!

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Roxas stopped at the front door, trying to control his rapid breathing as he pressed his hands lightly on the door. He had practically just up and ran out of the restaurant, leaving the pair confused, after noticing how long he had been out and hoped his father was asleep at that moment. Once he had control, he slowly turned the knob and opened the door quietly, stepping a foot in after glancing about in the house. For as much as he could see through the dark interior of the small room, he didn't see his father, so he slipped the rest of the way inside and did his best to quietly close the door. Pushing away the notion to check the rest of the house, he hurried to his bedroom and closed it, letting out a sigh of relief. Yet when he thought he had been safe, he began to hear a light breathing, and his heart started up again.

"Where you been, boy?" A deep voice, words slightly slurred, rang through the quiet room. Roxas didn't move, his mind trying to find the best answer. No matter which way he took, he was going to get in trouble; his father was obviously drunk. "Well? Are you gonna tell me or stand there like the idiot you are?" he growled, and Roxas could swear he stood and began walking if his heart wasn't pounding so hard. A hand grabbed his arm, spinning him around so he was now facing the ragged face of his drunk father. Roxas grimaced at the painful grip, but his eyes widened with fear when he saw an object in his father's hand. Metal was pressed against his forehead lightly, his father's narrowed dull eyes staring down at him. "Have you been dealin' drugs? Drinking alchohol when you aren't supposed to? Huh?"

Roxas quickly shook his head, wishing he could back away. "I-I-I was just.. out for my walk. I just fell asleep and panicked w-when I woke up and didn't know-" His father cocked the handgun and Roxas fell silent. Suddenly, the boy moved quickly, jerking his arm from his father's crushing grip and elbowing him in the stomach before jumping away as the gun shot off. Scrambling to his feet, he was tackled by the large form of his father and Roxas immediately went to wrestling the gun out of his father's hand, which accidently sent another bullet off and left the blonde's ears ringing. After a few seconds of unsuccessful wrestling, the boy finally grabbed the gun and twisted it sharply, his father finally letting it go to save his fingers.

Just as quickly as he had gotten the gun, his father was off and a couple of steps away from his son. Roxas was also standing, his back toward the door and his hands shakily holding the gun upright and pointed at his father. Both thumbs were on the hammer, not yet pulled back, and his breathing was ragged with fear. "D-don't come any closer, I swear it. I'll.. I'll shoot you. I swear it, I will," he said, as if it was the only thought in his mind. To be perfectly truthful, with fear at it's side, it _was_ the only thing on his mind. When his father made a slow move forward, Roxas quickly pulled back the hammer, taking a step back.

It stayed like that for a couple of more seconds before he noticed that a pair of hands were lowering his and taking the gun away. He quickly began to retaliate, pulling the gun back toward him, but it was yanked away and an arm circled his shoulders. "Hey! Roxas, just calm down, okay?" He recognized the voice as Demyx's and he stopped struggling, looking up to see his face staring at him with a worried expression. "Geeze, kid. I would have expected a run down house, but not this."

"H-how did you get in here?" he managed to choke out, his hands reaching up to his face to scrub at his eyes to be sure he was really there. He noted that his face was a little damp and realized he had been crying. Why? He would have done it because he wanted to. Hell, he could have ended the physical and verbal abuse with the pull of the trigger. He could have ended his _own_ life to make it simpler. But he hadn't done it. Roxas didn't have the guts, no matter the situation. He wasn't suicidal in the first place. "You aren't supposed to be here. Neither of you."

Demyx glanced at Axel, who had been checking Roxas' father for anything else. Sure enough, he had come up with a pocket knife from his father's hand, slightly tinted with a light film of red liquid. He raised a slim brow and looked at Roxas, looking for a cut in his clothing. Instead, he saw a thin line of red on the left side of the boy's neck. "We should get out of here. The kid's coming with us," he stated, heading back toward the pair. Along the way, he stopped to scoop something off of the floor and pocketed it along with the knife, herding them out of the room and toward the front door, ignoring the threats of the old man.

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"Well, home sweet home." Axel opened the door to reveal a medium sized apartment that was dimly lit at the moment by a corner lamp. He pushed Roxas inside before following and Demyx closed the door, deadbolting and locking the door. Letting the boy wander around, Demyx disappeared into the kitchen and Axel went into a room. A minute later, Axel reappeared with clothes in his hand and ushered Roxas toward what seemed to be the bathroom, shoving the clothes in his arms. "They're clean, so don't worry. I don't think you want to stay in those dirty clothes anymore. Be sure to take a shower, too, mmkay?" He then closed the door and plopped himself on the couch, staring at the ceiling as he listened to Demyx cook something. Several seconds later, Roxas had started his shower and Axel relaxed. "I'm pretty glad we followed him, you know?"

Demyx appeared with three plates and handed on to Axel while setting one on the small table beside the couch. Taking his seat in the chair at the end of the low table, he looked at his friend. "You know those smudges on his face? That isn't dirt; they're bruises. I could pretty much tell he wasn't living in a.. well, a good enough environment, so when the kid just shot off like that, I was kinda worried. I just never thought he'd have the guts to put a gun to his father." Axel stopped picking at his salisbury steak and looked at Demyx, confused. If his father had been abusing him, he would have definitely used a gun, or any means necessary, and kill him on the spot. "There's two paths that an abusive child can take. He can be aggressive, pretty much a bully and a kid that would talk back to anyone and everyone. Then there's the passive type, who'll just take whatever is thrown at him. Roxas is the passive type simply because he didn't go psycho crazy on your ass earlier today on the street. But sooner or later, without the right help, all of that abuse is going to pile up and get to him, and he's just going to freak and kill himself, or maybe go on a masacre somewhere in town," explained Demyx, catching the confusion on Axel's face. He shoveled a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth, letting his friend contemplate on his words.

"So... he could have possibly shot _himself_ instead of his father. If we hadn't gotten there, that is," he stated, rather than asked. Demyx nodded lightly. "Well, I wouldn't blame the kid. I would have done the same if I was in his shoes. Hell, I probably would have killed him the first chance I got if I was in his shoes."

"Maybe you could do it, but he can't. He's too young and emotional. All he really needs is a comfortable and uplifting surrounding. This is the best place until we turn him over to foster care."

"I'm not going to foster care." Both older boys looked toward the bathroom door where Roxas stood, the door open enough for them to see his face. Axel noted the marks on his face and, sure enough, they were still there. "I'll just live on the street or something. If I've been able to take care of myself up to this point, I don't need some stupid family adopting me," he said, a tint of anger mixed in with his voice.

Turning off the light, he stepped out tentatively and crossed the room to where Axel and Demyx sat with his pajamas on. The white shirt, which had black sleeves, overlapped the thin gray cotton pants he wore. He also had a pair of ankle socks on to keep his feet from getting cold against the wood. Roxas sat on opposite side of the couch which Axel sat on and took the plate handed to him, beginning to eat greedily but kept clean.

"So, is your mom really away on a business trip?" questioned Demyx, finishing the corn on his plate. Roxas looked up at him in mid-chew before nodding.

"Y-yeah. I barely get to see her, maybe once or twice a year. That's why.. my dad is so messed up," he replied after swallowing.

"You don't have any siblings or relatives to talk to, do you?" Roxas shook his head, his hand lowering so his fork hit the glass plate. "Haven't you-" Demyx cut off his own sentence, when Axel stood sharply, his emerald orbs piercing through his younger blonde friend. It was a message for him to stop the interrogation, simply because it wasn't going to help any. They weren't investigators; they had only met him on the right day and at the right time, having the correct notion that something wasn't right at his reaction.

Heading to the kitchen, Axel washed his plate and silverware. Demyx walked in only seconds after he finished and stood in front of the redhead. "You don't want to question him so early, Demyx. Its only going to traumatize the kid more than he already is and he probably won't trust us. We're both worried about his welfare, for whatever reason, so we have to take it slow on helping him. It isn't every day you pick up an abused stray." Demyx nodded slightly, washing his own dirty dishes and took Roxas' when he walked in. "Follow me, kid. We have a spare bedroom, so you can use it," stated Axel, leading him back through the living room and halfway through the small hallway beside the bathroom. He opened a door, revealing a rather clean and organized room with dark blue walls and a white ceiling. There was a bed in the far left corner, a small stand next to it with a light on it, and a window at the foot of the bed. There was also a closet to the left of the door, but there were obviously no clothes.

"By the way.. my name isn't 'kid.' Its Roxas." He then stepped into the room and pulled back the covers of the bed, but didn't climb under them. He just stood next to the bed with the edge of the blanket in his hands, contemplating something. Shaking his head just a tad bit, he climbed onto the bed and pulled the covers to his chin, his back facing the door.

With a small smirk, which disappeared as quickly as it had come, shut the door. "Night, kid."

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I'm not much of a humorous person in the beginning, but I'll try to get some in sometime. ; If there's any mistakes that really bug you that I made (and didn't notice), I don't mind if you point them out. But just don't be rude about it, mmkay? ) 


	3. Small Talk

Author's Note: Sorry I didn't upload this yesterday (You're probably wondering why I'm apologizing when its only a day.. Its just that my weekends are usually ******_very_**free). My birthday is in 8 days and my dad just gave me one of my presents early. -squeals- Its KH:CoM. Stupid instruction book was in french, no english whatsoever, but oh well. I learned the good old fashioned way: play it. P Well, enough ranting on life; the story must go on!

******Lemoney:**Thanks! If I had a choice, I'd make a dozen stories in different genres (not just angst/romance, but I think I'm exceptionally good at that or so says my friend, lol) I just type what comes to mind and hope it works for the best. ) Nothing is really planned out unless I get this really good idea that _has_ to be in the story sometime. I'm glad you like it though! It gave me inspiration to finish up the chapter.

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"Wakey wakey, eggs 'n bakey!" yelled Demyx, shaking the small form of Roxas in an attempt to wake him up. "Come on, Roxas! It's noon and you're still asleep. You missed breakfast, so you definitely need lunch." Roxas only moaned his disapproval and rolled onto his other side, dragging the blanket with him. Demyx stood straight and contemplated on the situation before stepping out of the room and heading to Axel's door. Knocking on it twice, he entered the room and started moving toward his friend's closet. "You mind if I borrow something really quick? It'll only take about... a minute or three." Axel, who was sitting on his bed with a Game Boy Advance in his hands with his fingers mashing at the buttons excessively, nodded his head jerkily. 

"DAMN YOU FAT FREAK OF HELL! DIE!" he screamed at the screen, his face moving closer if it could. Demyx sighed and opened the closet door, wondering how the little system is still alive after all the yelling and abuse when Axel got irritated with a game. Taking a quick look, he found the object he wanted where he had last placed it, and scooped it up. "Kiss the power of my sword and.. and then my dozens of fire spells! ...Don't forget to bring it back, Demyx. I don't want to find it missing. FUCK NO! Quit turning around every time I get behind you, you damn shadow!"

Axel resumed his button mashing as Demyx exited the room and returned to Roxas'. He was still asleep, still curled up, and looking as if he never had been abused or went through the trauma of last night. With a mischievous smirk, Demyx raised the object and pushed the button of the blow horn, emitting a very loud and very screechy sound. Roxas practically bounced two feet off of his bed and fell on the floor in a mess of blankets and a pillow, his left hand clutching at his chest to see if his heart was still in there or if it had popped out in fright. His wide cerulean gaze snapped in Demyx's direction, his breath still a tad short.

"What was that for! I was sleeping!" he exclaimed. He glanced toward the slightly dusty clock on the table stand and noticed it was 12:27 in the afternoon and let a hand run over his face.

"Well, for your information, we like to get up in the morning to have breakfast _and_ lunch in the afternoon, but you decided to ignore us this morning and kept sleeping. So I thought maybe you'd like to get up for lunch," said Demyx with a cheery smile. "Plus, Axel and I have some things planned for today, so you might want to hurry out in the kitchen and get something to eat and get ready after that. If you're going to be staying here, you'll need clothes and stuff, right?" Roxas looked at him with a dumbfounded look on his face, his fingers pausing on his mouth.

"Wait? I'm _staying_ here? When was that decided?" he asked, one eyebrow raising to emphasize his question. If Demyx was going to wake him up every day with a blow horn, he sure as hell didn't want to stay here. But then again, it was better than being picked up and thrown on the floor or against the wall... to a point.

"Well, you said you didn't want to go to foster care, and there is **no** way we're going to let you go back to that person you call a dad. So the only thing is for you to stay with us!"

"Well, I could live on the streets! I've been doing it ever since... for a while now," retorted Roxas as he stood up from the tangle of blankets. He picked them up and tossed them onto the bed, taking the time to place the pillow where it belonged. "I'm not trying to push away your help; truthfully, I appreciate that you guys came last night. I just.. I can't stay with you guys, for personal reasons. Thanks for everything you've done though."

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up a second." Roxas paused from making the bed to look at the door where Axel now stood, who was in a different dress of clothes unlike Demyx. He wore a forest green shirt, which had an owl holding out a sucker with the words "Wanna Lick?" above it, that clearly showed how skinny he really was. His shorts only passed his knees by about three inches and were tan in color and his feet were covered by white ankle socks. Roxas also noticed that his flaming red hair was spiked backward, probably gelled to no end to make it stay like that. "We meet, you run away, we save you from imminent death, you eat and stay over, and now you run away again with only a thanks? I think not," he said, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned a shoulder against the wooden framing of the door. Demyx noticed a smirk on his face and knew he had something up his sleeve.

"You can't keep me here, you know. If you want to get technical on things, you pretty much-"

"Look, you have to pay us back somehow. We saved you, fed you, gave you a safe place to stay, and here in a few minutes, you're going to be fed again. We're generally not this nice, so you better start feeling special, kid," interrupted Axel, his smirk growing into a grin. Roxas took a step forward, his anger beginning to rise slightly, but he held himself back. Maybe he was right, but there was no way they were going to keep him in the house against his will.

"Fine, I'll pay you back. But you can't just keep me here the whole time. I _do_ need to get out often."

"No problem! I'm sure Demyx already told you we were going to take you shopping to get you some new clothes and stuff, so you better hurry up. We have a tight schedule to run." Flashing the two a smile, he waltzed away from the room and back to his own, closing the door as he began humming. Roxas glanced at Demyx, wanting to bombard the the older blonde with questions on Axel's behavior, but decided for the better. He continued making the bed, but he still felt eyes watching him.

"What?" he shot out at Demyx, who was just standing in the room like he was in space. He snapped to and looked at Roxas.

"O-oh, nothing. I was just thinking..." he replied, but he didn't make a move to exit the room. Silence was stretched for a minute, Demyx's sapphire orbs trained on the ground now as he leaned against the wall. "Do you really... hate us or something?"

The question caused Roxas to pause in straightening the several layers of blankets, his shoulders sagging slightly. He hadn't meant to put that impression on them, but he really did have his reasons for not wanting to stay. This was practically heaven compared to the life he had with his father. "...No. It isn't that, Demyx. I just have my own reasons, okay?" he said quietly, pulling the blankets to get rid of the wrinkles. He straightened and raked a hand through his messy hair before turning and making a beeline for the door. His stomach was going to start protesting if he didn't eat anytime soon. "So what's for breakfast?"

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HAHAHHAHA! I was on sugar when I typed the beginning of this chapter, if you can tell. I actually started it yesterday and only got to the point where Demyx asked Axel to borrow the blow horn. I was really short on what to type, but I got an idea. ) And guess what game he's playing; you might get a reward for guessing right, lol. Maybe... Depending on my attention span. Well, hope you readers enjoy the chapter! (Although it seems a little short to me... lol)  



	4. Shopping Spree

AN: After a lot of time that passed, from playing a game to eating supper to talking to friends/relatives and browsing the net about Disgaea 2... I decided to create the next chappy. Lol Hope you like! (Especially since I got 2 chappys in one day. )

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Roxas shoved the last piece of toast in his mouth before he was rudely dragged away from the table by Axel, who seemed a little **too** excited to go shopping. '_Maybe he has a feminine side.. Which explains why he's so skinny, too...'_ he thought. He snapped out of his thoughts quick enough to tug at his pants and save himself from falling flat on his face. The loose pants he had borrowed from Axel, which looked pink in color instead of a fading red, were a little too long for him, but he had decided they would manage until they bought new clothes. Even the white shirt he was wearing seemed too big for his small body, the end of the tee falling mid-thigh.

"Is it really necessary to drag me like this? I do have my own two feet, if you haven't noticed..." he muttered, attempting to jerk his wrist out of the older boy's grip. But it was no use; Axel's hand was like handcuff with no keyhole nor latch to undo the metal wrist ring. Already out of the apartment door and down the hall, Roxas began wondering where Demyx had disappeared to. He had, if Roxas recalled correctly, said they were both taking him shopping. "Uh.. where's Demyx?"

Axel stopped in front of the elevator, letting Roxas' hand retreat for the moment. "He said he had something to do really quick. He'll meet up with us later, so don't worry, mmkay?" he stated, pushing the first floor button. The elevator doors opened within two seconds and he latched onto Roxas' wrist again, dragging him inside. To Roxas, the ride down seemed extremely slow and he tried to recall which floor they were on from the night before, but he had been too... out of his mind to really take in the details. In fact, everything seemed a blur in his mind except for the part that had happened after he had gotten home. Letting his thoughts slip completely away now, he stared at the metallic doors until they finally opened.

"So..." he started when Axel practically leaped out of the elevator, "what store are we going to?" The older boy shrugged his shoulders before waving at the woman behind the front desk politely.

"I don't know, whatever store we stop at first. I'm not too picky, as long as they have good clothes, you know?" he said, walking out of the building and down the street as quickly as possible. From Roxas' point of view, they had passed a considerable amount of stores that sold clothing, and began to wonder what was on Axel's mind. "Ah! Here we are; that seems like a good store."

The blonde noted the title of the store they had stopped in front of and his face seemed to take a light shade of pink. He quickly looked away, clearing his throat. "Er.. Axel.. this is a woman's store.." he murmured quietly. He lifted a hand to his face and took a deep breath.

"Eh? Oh! No, not this one, silly! Why in oblivion would I take you to Victoria's Secret?" he said cheerfully, although Roxas could clearly hear the mocking laughter in his voice. "If you'd pay attention, I was pointing to that store across the street. Kids these days... You just can't control their perverted minds." Axel began across the street, leaving Roxas behind.

"Hey, I'm not perverted!" he yelled, glaring at Axel's retreating back. He chased after the redhead, unaware of the speeding car coming his way until the horn sounded. Roxas stopped in his tracks, his head snapping in the direction of the oncoming car. His mind screamed for him to move, but his body stayed stationary and his heart leaped into his throat in fear.

Everything happened too fast for the young blonde to register at first; he couldn't tell if he was alive or if he had been run over and was lying on the side of the road like a broken doll. Testing himself, he opened his eyes and squirmed slightly to find two arms wrapped around his small form; in fact, he saw a zip up gray jacket that resembled Demyx's. Looking up, he saw that it was Demyx himself, who had been caught by Axel since Roxas' weight had set him off. Clearing his throat, he stepped away from both of them rubbed the back of his head, embarrassment setting in. What was it with him and cars these days?

"Hey, you okay, Roxas?" asked Demyx after thanking Axel for the save. Roxas nodded hastily and moved across the street toward the store, leaving both boys behind to look at each other confused. Quickly chasing after him, they all entered the store.

"You know, Demyx, that was the perfect example of a deer caught in headlights in the middle of the night. If it hadn't been so dangerous, it would have been rather funny," said Axel with a smirk. His roommate managed a smile before glancing at Roxas, who was looking through a rack of cargo pants.

"Come on. Let's start looking for some clothes that suit him." Demyx immediately hopped over to a shelf full of shirts and Axel took his role of looking at accessories. Of course, to him, clothes were cool, but they'd look pretty plain without accessories.

Two hours later, the trio emerged from the store with at least one bag, if not two, filled with at least seven articles of clothing in each or more. Although Roxas enjoyed getting new clothes, he was suddenly beginning to feel not only spoiled, but as if he was using them. In fact, the more he thought about it, it seemed to be true in his mind.

"Hey, Roxas. You know you'll have to pay us back double now that we saved your life twice." The boy looked at Axel, slightly surprised.

"Actually, Axel, it was-"

"So that means instead of leaving in a week, you have to stay two weeks!" he exclaimed with a wide grin on his face, ignoring Demyx.

"What exactly am I supposed to do? Just sit there and be safe?" asked Roxas.

"Hell no! You have to do chores and stuff or whatever we tell you to do. We promise that it won't be too hard for your small frail body to handle." Roxas rolled his eyes as they entered the apartment building, thinking _'Oh joy...'_

Once inside of the elevator, he set his bag down and leaned against the wall, wishing he had his music. He didn't remember what had happened to his Ipod, and he knew for sure it wasn't in his possession. Just as he was about to ask the two if they happened to know it's whereabouts, the door opened and they hurried down the hall to the apartment. Roxas trudged slowly behind them with his clothes and entered the apartment after them.

For once, his life seemed a little different, if still a tad bit dull. He didn't have to worry about a father who was constantly drunk and abusive, nor did he have to live in a gloomy run down house and practically wear the same clothes every day. Yet, even though his surroundings seemed more uplifting, his mind was constantly in the dark and straying toward topics he wanted to let alone. If he had the choice, he would have taken death by car instead of moping all the time.

With a sigh, Roxas dropped the shopping bag next to his closet where Axel and Demyx had dropped the others, and allowed himself to drop backward on the bed, hands clasped behind his head as a pillow. His mind wandered about through the different thoughts emerging in his mind, unaware of the weariness that tugged at his body. Soon enough, his eyes had drifted shut and he fell into a silent, but seemingly peaceful sleep.

"I hope you know that both times, _I_ was the one who saved the kid." Demyx closed the refridgerator door after taking out two orange sodas and looked toward Axel. "Well.. I could give you credit the first time for actually doing something, but I was still the one with the intuition that he was in trouble and the one who saved him from that stupid driver."

Axel groaned and snatched the orange soda from his friend's hand, wishing he'd let the subject go already. "Look, I only told the kid that because he has to make up for it somehow. He can't expect people to just pop in and help, then leave just like that. I mean, we risked our **own** lives to save _his_!" he exclaimed, leaning back against the counter. Demyx eyed him with a flat gaze.

"Uh, hello..! Helping people for free is much better than making them 'repay' the debt," he hissed, quoting with his fingers. "There is no debt for being nice. You probably have something stupid up your sleeve again, just like the time you helped that one old lady out. I still can't believe she caved into your story and gave you five hundred bucks for being a 'good citizen.'" Demyx opened his soda and took a drink. He had to admit, the trick had been a good one, but it had turned sour when the old lady had died the next day.

"Well, I'm sure this will turn out fine and dandy. Trust me on this!" said Axel with a smirk.


	5. The Craziness That's Called Axel

AN: Yay! Done with homework (which I really got into, seeing as I had to make a short story on my topic in English). I'm really in the writing mood right now, so I'm thankful for it. oO If it passes as acceptable, then I have four whole free days to mess around in English class. -celebrates by tossing confetti everywhere- ANYWAY... Thank you reviewers/readers! I really like this story, even though I was only thinking half-assed about it when I first began. Now I'm spending time in school thinking about evil things and twists for the story. lol Well, on to the story!

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"_Roxas, sweetie, are you okay? Did that big mean rock make you scrape your knee up?" Roxas looked up at his mother with tearful eyes, nodding slowly. "You are my sunshine, Roxas. I love you so much." Her emerald ones glimmered at him in motherly sympathy, smiling at him sweetly as she pressed a dalmation band-aid softly over the small cut on his left knee. Her straight, dust-colored hair that ran slightly below her shoulders swayed with the wind. A small childish smile crept onto the young blonde's face and his small hands grasped his mother's, holding tightly as if she was going to go away so soon after making him feel so much better. _

_  
In truth, it did. Her figure began to fade away, almost as if she was fading into small grains of dust and blending in with the meadow. Roxas began to panic, his huge cerulean gaze widening with fear as his fingers tried to grasp his mother's hands again, but to no avail. Her form simply slipped between his small hands and disappear from his view, leaving the young Roxas alone. Tears spilled down his face, the sun casting a glimmer across the sad feature. "Come back... I need you.."_

Roxas' eyes slowly opened, unaware that his face was covered with half-dried tear stains and his pillow being slightly damp. His eyes were unfocused and staring at the wall, the dream, however short, lingering in his mind. It told a truth he'd never be able to tell in words, or so he thought, about his mother. She had left him alone in the world with his son of a bitch father, but he never blamed her for it. She hadn't had the choice. Sometimes, after having a dream about her, Roxas began wondering why she had even married him, how she had been attracted to such a bastard. He supposed that it had to do with something about 'opposites attracting,' whatever that was supposed to mean. He had only heard it once from a story his mother told him so long ago.

With a sigh, Roxas turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling, becoming aware that his face felt slightly awkward because of the dried tears. He rubbed at them unceremoniously to get rid of the feeling until he heard something toward his right. He glanced over to see Demyx hanging the new clothes in his closet, quietly humming a soft tune to himself. It oddly sounded familiar to him, but he pushed it away immediately to spare him the thinking.

"What time is it?" he asked, voice strung with weariness.

"About nine in the morning. Why do you ask, sleepyhead?" Demyx flashed him a light smile over his shoulder before returning to his task. Roxas pushed the covers off of him and swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing at his eyes to try and wake up. Had he really slept all night? They had only been out shopping for two hours with a little bit of walking in between each, so he didn't understand why he had been so tired. "Don't worry about it, okay? You're mind is probably just exhausted," said Demyx as if he could read Roxas' mind. The younger blonde stood from the bed and walked over to the older boy, grabbing a shirt from one of the bags.

"You don't have to do this, you know. I was planning on doing it today, if not last night," he said, his voice a tad bit quiet. Roxas grabbed a plastic hanger from the closet and began the task of helping Demyx, somehow knowing he wasn't going to leave. "So where's Axel? I thought he'd be up making a racket or complaining or something. What was the deal about his happy-go-lucky attitude yesterday, anyway?"

That question ripped a laugh from Demyx. "I'm not so sure myself, Roxas. I thought about it one night and only came up with the fact he may have personality malfunction. But I can guarantee you that he isn't bipolar or psychotic, despite his behavior. Maybe a little crazy around the edges, but that's what defines Axel," he replied, placing a sweater in the closet. "He's probably talking to a friend right now. He had this crazy idea last night that he kept bragging about, but he never told me any details. Sometimes it annoys me to no end."

A smirk found it's way onto Roxas' face for once and Demyx caught it faintly in the corner of his eye. He could now feel safe that he was getting somewhere with the boy and hope he eventually opened up a little more. It was only the beginning of a nice friendship and he only hoped that Axel didn't ruin it with his scheme.

As if on cue, however, Axel swung the door open, causing the knob to slam into the wall and scare the hell out of both boys. He wore a yellow shirt over a black long-sleeved one and his blue jeans were slightly baggy and tattered as always. It was a usual style he couldn't break himself out of. "Oh, Roxas! Guess what time it is!" he said in a sing-song voice. His eyes seemed to sparkle mischievously and Roxas was already afraid of the response. "Time for chores! Your clothes can wait later, okay? I have work today and, if I recall correctly, Demyx will be out later, like usual. So I want to make sure you get it done right on the first try."

Roxas hesitated before dropping the shirt he was holding inside of a bag and following the exuberant redhead out of the room. His arms was grasped in that iron-like hand and dragged toward Axel's room, sending questions in the young blonde's mind. "Uh.. Axel-"

"I went through the trouble of finding suitable clothes for you to wear while cleaning the house. I didn't want you to get your new ones dirty, so you should be thankful!" he interrupted cheerily. Axel left the confused boy at the door as he went straight to his closet and rummaged to the back before he yelled out an "Ah-hah!" and came striding back out with something in his hand. It was a hanger, but it was also covered in what seemed to be half plastic and half cloth that was practically as long as Roxas was tall. "Here! Go try it on; the bathroom would be the best place because I don't think you want Demyx watching you change, mmkay?"

Roxas took the hanger slowly, his thumb and index finger holding it as if it was covered with bacteria or germs that could leap up and bite him to death. "Right..." he murmured, heading out of the room and to the bathroom. As soon as he closed the door, he set it on one of the hooks on the back of the door and stared at it, contemplating if he should open it or not. He was just comfortable wearing what he had on, which was the same as yesterday, and didn't mind getting it dirty since it wasn't exactly his clothing. But nonetheless, he decided to at least look at it.

Unzipping the cover, he pulled it back. Several different emotions hit him at once as soon as he saw the black and white clothing and his face turned a darker shade of pink than the day before. He swiftly opened the door, anger mixed with confusion and just plain shock backing it up, only to see Axel standing right in front of the door. He looked a tad surprised when he saw a flustered Roxas staring up at him. "What the **_hell_** is that!" he snapped, jerking his head toward the door where the outfit was hidden behind.

"What? It was made from a special and very talented clothing designer.." he said, tilting his head slightly to the right. Axel tapped his chin with an index finger. "I though a maid's outfit would definitely help put you in the mood to clean. Well, I'm not about to let Marluxia's hard work go to waste! Come on, Roxy!" Axel charged into the bathroom, shoving Roxas back inside and closing the door with a _snap!_ of the lock.

"What the hell, Axel! Don't you dare-hey! Let go of my shi-**DEMYX!_"_** Roxas struggled to get away from the crazed Axel, but there wasn't exactly much space to run or hide.

"Come on, Roxas! All you have to do is slip it on and take off the other clothes. I swear I won't peek!" Axel ignored the small threats and yelps. He shoved the young boy against the wall with a wide grin, his face abnormally close to Roxas'. He had somehow managed to slip the outfit over the blonde's half naked body in the mess and he let his emerald eyes wander down to take in what it looked like. "Well, it'd look _much_ better if you lost the pants.. In fact, I say lose the pants. Why? Because it doesn't look right," he said, voice low as if he was contemplating on something. A slim brow raised when he looked Roxas in the eye, noticing the deepening blush across his face and anger rising in the depths of his cerulean gaze. "Okay, fine, I'll wait outside. But remember, you have to listen to what we say or else you'll never repay us!"

Axel left Roxas alone in the bathroom, knowing he wouldn't go against repaying the debt of saving his life **_twice_** now. It was only a matter of seconds that the bathroom door opened quietly and Roxas emerged with only the outfit on and his head down, loose blonde locks hanging in his face but doing a poor job of hiding the now noticeable blush across his face. The redhead grinned widely and set a hat on top of the boy's head as well as push something into his hand to complete the look, leading him toward the hallway with a hand at his back. _'Y'know.. he pulled it off better than I thought!'_ thought Axel, somewhat proud of himself.

"Hey, Demyx! Look how cute little Roxy is!" he said gleefully, pushing the teenager into the room before peeking his head over the corner of the wall. Roxas kept his head down, completely humiliated, but he wasn't about to break the promise he made to himself to repay the two. Plus, he didn't want to see Demyx's face, even if it was one of sympathy or one that was trying to hold back laughter.

"U-uh, Axel.. Was this that plan you were talking about last night? Because this is actually-"

"Excellent? Better than you thought? I know! I think I exceeded myself this time," replied Axel. "Well, I'll leave you to your cleaning, Roxas! I gotta get ready for work." As soon as the redhead left, Demyx tried to work words into his mouth, wanting to apologize to the boy about Axel's behavior again, but the blonde was already out of the room faster than a cheetah would be able to catch an antelope.

"Poor kid..."

* * *

-laughs uncontrollably- I actually got the whole maid idea from a picture I found and drinking lots of soda didn't help my train of thought at all. XP I actually think the piccy I found was a good one (except for his face; it just doesn't go with the picture at all ). Anyway, hope you readers/reviewers enjoy! Time for me to get to bed. -frowns- 


	6. The Murderer and the Dead Guy

AN: Hah.. I'm evil. I don't know why I love to torture Roxas so, he's my fave and he's absolutely teh smex (and Axel too X3). But its a way to open up more of Roxas' background (if not much). Well, not much to say. Finished this up this morning 'cause I had a scheduled 2-hour delay cheers Well, enjoy!

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Roxas walked down the street with a slightly happier aura around him, the newly fallen snow crunching beneath his worn shoes. A week had gone by quickly and he was growing accustomed to his new, but temporary, home with Axel and Demyx. The faint bruises that were on his face had disappeared a couple of days ago and his back, which he had kept from everyone so they wouldn't help him, didn't hurt as much since he had wrestled with his father for the weapon. In fact, he felt like a brand new person given the chance at a new life, at least in his perception.

He fingered the small book he had bought from a store only minutes before with the five dollars Axel and Demyx had given him. He had been able to weasle out of the house with a few begging words and his excellent 'persuasive skills,' although Axel caved in before he managed the persuasive part. Demyx, on the other hand, was a tad worried about Roxas' welfare and wanted to go with him, but he decided not to, since the younger blonde was sixteen, well old enough to be able to take care of himself if anything should happen. He recalled that the boy could at least hold a gun half-threateningly or be able to protect himself with a knife or defensive measures... if he had any such things. All in all, Demyx just gave in and let him go out for the day, hoping he'd be home on time and that he hadn't gotten in any sort of trouble. Roxas was smug to admit that he sounded like a mother; he wasn't going to get into any life-endangering trouble if he could help it.

At that second, something grasped his arm and jerked him to the side, straight into an alley. His small body was shoved against the brick wall, knocking most of the breath out of him; but that was the least of his problems. He had heard a small _click!_ that caused him to look up. Shock permeated through his mind, his limbs suddenly numb and as heavy as lead when he saw a slightly taller figure holding a weapon in his hand. The worst of it was that the weapon was a gun and he had pointed it at his left temple.

Roxas, trying to shake himself out of his shock, began to take in details that would help if he could just somehow manage to escape. He guessed the man was a little taller than Demyx, his hair blonde and neatly combed. But the most important thing Roxas collected was the gash that ran diagonally right between his baby blue eyes. Roxas' gaze slipped to the side unconciously, but he instantly regretted it. A body was laying there with blood already staining the new snow. _'Shit shit shit! There's no way I can get out of it..'_ he thought, returning his wide-eyed gaze back to the man in front of him. He closed his eyes, then, reassuring himself he's making his death worse than it could be. _'Well.. might as well just take it. Just take a deep breath and..and..'_

He suddenly felt a rush of warm breath on his ear and his fingers tightened on the small book in his hands. The barrel of the gun finally touched his skin and bile rose into Roxas' throat, his head extremely light. "Bang..." said the man, just as he pulled the trigger. But there was no loud sound emitting from the gun, no bullet running straight through his head to lead him to an instant death. As soon as Roxas opened his eyes, only enough to see a smug grin on the man's face, he lost consciousness.

* * *

"_I should kill you for that stupid stunt. You and him both. I swear to god you're both nutcases that should have never been accepted into that stupid academy or wherever it is you go."_

"_Hey, how was I supposed to know the kid would faint?"_

"_I told you about what happened, so don't play dumb, Seifer."_

"_I'll go check on him.. y'know, to see if he's okay yet or not."_

"_No no no, stay put. I don't trust you two right now. Just.. stay here with Demyx."_

Roxas half listened to the argument in the living room as he finished a sentence in his notebook, wishing what was really going on. Who were they? The only thing he knew was that Axel and Demyx knew them both, whoever the second person was, and they clearly knew about him from Axel. Too bad he hadn't said any names, because that would have really helped Roxas out a lot in the midst of his confusion.

Abruptly, the door slammed open and Roxas snapped his head in the direction of the door. Axel was obviously fuming over the incident that the boy couldn't exactly recall completely, but he wasn't going to think about it. After closing the door, Axel took a few steps toward the bed before actually looking at Roxas.

"Hey, you're up. Are you feeling any better?" he questioned, his face instantly devoid of anger.

"Um.. sorta. I'm still confused about what happened, though." He returned his cerulean gaze to his writing, unaware of Axel at the side of the bed now.

"Oooh, what's this! A di-ary?" he asked as he snatched the book from the bed, drawing out the word. Roxas instantly leaped up on the edge of his bed and tried to grab it back, but Axel held it high above his head with both hands, trying to read the chicken scratch that was Roxas' handwriting.

"No! Its a.. er... a memory album! In words...!" he said quickly, hands coiling around one of the redhead's wrists. He attempted to pull it down, but he wasn't exactly the strongest kid in the world. Axel snapped the book shut, half giving up on trying to read it, but mainly because he respected the boy's privacy. "Come on, give it ba-"

Roxas' foot slipped on the sheets, then, the slight panic causing him to cut off his sentence as he tumbled forward. Axel reacted quickly, snapping his wrist out of the young boy's grasp and wrapping his arm around him to prevent Roxas from knocking them both to the ground. He slowly put Roxas down until his feet touched the ground, but when he tried to straighten up, he noticed he couldn't. Axel looked down and saw that the kid had a death grip on his red shirt and rolled his eyes heavenward.

"Um... Roxas...?"

"...yeah?"

"You can... um... er... have your book back now."

"...okay." But he didn't let go of Axel's shirt to grab it. Silence permeated through the room for a couple of minutes and Axel was aware that his back was beginning to hurt from bending over for so long. He sighed and put the book down on the bedstand and clasped both hands over Roxas'.

"You can let go now. You're feet are safely on the ground and if you fall forward again, I'll just push you backward so you can just hit the bed." Roxas glanced up at Axel, as if he was suddenly aware that he was clinging to Axel because he was his last hope or something. His face brightened with a pink blush and he let go immediately, removing his hands from Axel's. He moved away, put space between them in hopes of getting the awkward moment out of his mind, but it was sorta like glue. "Is it okay to ask.. why you were so afraid?"

"Isn't everybody if they fall off of their bed like that?" retorted Roxas in a snap, arms crossed over his chest. He noticed that his old hoodie was slightly damp and took it that he fell in the snow after passing out, but his tan cargo pants were completely dry because of it's thin material.

"Well.. that's not really fair, answering a question with a question. But I'm not gonna push you to tell me. I can wait, you know?" Roxas had a fair impression that Axel had a smile on his face. "Um.. well, I'll just be heading back out now. I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were okay." Axel headed to the door, shoving his hands into his forest green khaki pants.

"I.. was pushed down the stairs. Quite a few times.." muttered Roxas as soon as Axel's hand touched the doorknob. He paused and looked back at Roxas, his eyebrows furrowing. Pushed down the stairs? "My dad would get angry with me or he'd be really drunk... so sometimes he did it on purpose, others he just didn't mean to."

"Bullshit," snapped Axel quietly, hand falling limp to his side. "Even a drunk man wouldn't just happen to run into you by the stairs, Roxas. He obviously has a grudge or something against you for some unknown reason. Stupid people usually have stupid reasons, though, so don't think you did anything wrong. Personally... I think that you were doing the right thing when you pointed that gun at him. Half the time I wish Demyx and I didn't arrive so soon so you would have killed him. With what I think you've gone through, he shouldn't have had his life spared."

Roxas' insides recoiled, wanting to snap at Axel for talking about his father that way, but he couldn't. He knew that the redhead was right; his father didn't really have the right to live after what he had done. Even though he hated to admit it, he wished he had pulled the trigger, too. Not only for the physical and verbal abuse, but for many other things he'd never be able to tell even his closest friends. A tear slid down his cheek and Roxas was startled when a hand wiped it away. He lifted his eyes from where they had fallen on the floor to see Axel standing on his right, a half sympathetic look on his face.

"I didn't mean to... bash your dad like that, but I'm a pretty blunt guy..." he murmured. A smirk then slid comfortably on his face before he tussled Roxas' hair. "Come on, let's go out in the living room." Roxas complied and followed Axel out of the room. Once they were in the main room, he glanced up and took note of everyone. Demyx was sitting in the chair and two men were on the couch. Something clicked in Roxas' mind; the murderer and the dead guy.

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Wee! Well, I hope the 'murderer' is obvious from the description. The 'dead guy' is a surprise guest that was never in the game, but I was like 'What the hay, why not?' . Don't worry, he'll be named in the next chappy. Much 3 to reviewers/readers! 


	7. Emotional Distress

AN: I don't know why I'm not happy with this chapter.. I think maybe I dragged it on too much. So I wouldn't be surprised if this was a bad chapter to you readers, either. Just don't openly bash me 'cause then I'll lose all hope of continuing. T-T But yes, Axel and Roxas get a little closer in their friendship. . Um... well, yeah, not much to say right now. Can't think. lol Enjoy the chappy? ;

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Roxas paled visibly, his head getting light again. He suspected that he'd probably faint again, if not get sick, but it never came. Unconciously, his left hand snatched at the back of Axel's in a death grip like before, cerulean gaze jumping from the murderer to the supposedly dead guy. He had no doubt that it was him, despite that he wasn't able to see the tribal tattoo on the left side of his face, but his hair was the same. What struck him hard was that there was no evidence of blood, or whatever they had used to fake the blood; the victim's shirt was plain black.

"He's supposed to be dead!" he suddenly blurted out, the index finger of his right hand pointing straight at the younger blonde victim. "A-and he held a gun to my head; he's a murderer." His arm retracted, but his finger had swerved to point at the older blonde, his voice dropping several octaves as if it was a crime to say your opinion of the truth. Everyone in the room looked at Roxas and he wondered if his face had turned as red as Axel's shirt.

"Well, the thing is Roxas.. Seifer and Zell played a really mean trick on you. The gun wasn't real and they used kool-aid to fake the blood..." replied Demyx as his sapphire gaze slowly looked over at the guilty pair.

"Well, we didn't mean to scare the kid to-"

"Its Roxas," interrupted the boy. He had let go of Axel's shirt by now and had his arms crossed angrily over his chest, obviously angry. Seifer glanced at him momentarily before rolling his eyes.

"We didn't mean to scare _Roxas_ to the point of fainting like a baby." Roxas gritted his teeth, hands curling into fists until his knuckles turned white.

"Take that back." Seifer narrowed his gaze on him, leaning an elbow on his knee as he looked him over.

"Make me, kid," he replied with a smug smirk. It was deliberate, somehow feeling he had struck a nerve, and it humored him even more when Roxas whipped out a pocket knife in one swift fluid movement. In the next two minutes, everything was a ruckus and everyone was yelling simultaneously.

"I said take it back. You don't know what the hell I've been through, you ignorant bastard."

"Roxas, put that away!"

"Damn it, Seifer!"

"Get him out of here!"

"Like hell you're going to drag me out of here! Axel, get off of me!" Roxas struggled against the redhead, jerking his elbow into his stomach with his other hand flailing in an attempt to get Axel's grip off of his wrist. Demyx was across the room like a bullet, yanking the pocket knife from Roxas' grip and pocketing it to assure the safety of their lives before wrapping an arm around the small boy and taking him from Axel.

"Take him to his room, keep him company for the next few minutes, will ya?" said Axel with a menial smirk, ignoring the streak of pain just above the right side of his jaw. Demyx nodded and dragged Roxas to his bedroom, closing the door when he could and leaning against it. Roxas angrily paced the room for a few seconds before sitting on his bed with a frustrated sigh.

"I'm not a baby.." he murmured, as if his anger was all used up.

"We know you aren't, Roxas. Seifer.. he's just pretty twisted. If we knew he and Zell were gonna pop up, we would have at least told you about them." Silence stretched between them for a minute or so, and Roxas swore he heard faintly heard someone yelling from the street. "Zell isn't that bad, once you get to know him. He loves to mess around; Seifer is just a bad influence on people. I can guarantee you that if Zell knew what you went through, he wouldn't have done anything."

Roxas didn't smirk, smile or even respond to him. At that moment, he was just too pissed off to really care about anything. Except the sound of the door slamming open to the apartment. Roxas quickly leaped off of his bed and headed toward the door, but Demyx didn't move and just stared at him. "Move!" exclaimed Roxas, motioning with his hands for Demyx to move out of the way. He only smirked and shook his head, taking a step forward at the same time as if to torture the boy.

"I can't until Axel says it's okay." As if on cue, the door to Roxas' room opened quickly and the knob hit a sensitive spot on Demyx's back, causing him to leap forward with a yelp and fall straight into Roxas. Sadly, however, neither could keep their footing and ended up falling to the floor with what sounded like a painful _smack! _Both boys moaned a protest of pain and Demyx began to pull himself to his hands and knees.

"What are you doing?" Demyx rubbed his forehead, which had unceremoniously hit the floor, and looked over his shoulder to see Axel staring at him. Well.. _them_. Glancing back down at a flushed Roxas, he scrambled off of the boy and sat to the side, hands clasping his ankles and his back going stiff.

"We weren't doing anything. We were just talking and Roxas wanted out of the room but I told him he couldn't until you said it was okay and then you opened the door and hit me in the back and I fell forward and then we both fell on the floor." His words were a complete rush, not a breath spared in between words. He felt as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have, and he knew that he _hadn't_ been doing anything he shouldn't have, but it still nagged at him.

On the other hand, Roxas had only sat up and looked at Axel, ignoring the fact his face was flaring with heat. Rubbing the back of his head, the boy noticed the small smear that resembled the color of red just above the right side of his jaw. Trying to get a closer look, he leaned forward and squinted his eyes, but Axel had placed a hand on his jaw awkwardly. "What?" he snapped. Roxas blinked and leaned back again, shaking his head before looking at the ground.

"Nothing.." he murmured, getting to his feet and standing in front of Axel. He didn't move, however, causing Roxas to fidget slightly. "Could.. you move? Please?" Axel did so and the boy hurried out of the room and toward the bathroom, glancing up to see Seifer and Zell seated on the couch again. His cerulean gaze locked with baby blue orbs, narrowing slightly before Roxas disappeared inside of the bathroom.

Once inside, he locked the door and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked too tired and worn out, his hair a complete mess and his clothes looked wrinkled. His face didn't look any better; even though he had had _plenty_ of sleep, it made him seem like he didn't have any at all. Roxas turned the knob above the sink faucet to the left midway and pushed up. Mediocre temperatured water splashed into the white porcelain sink and Roxas cupped his hands under the pouring clear liquid as he bent forward, and splashed it onto his face. He ran his hands over his face, rubbing at his eyes exhaustedly. He had to get out of the house as fast as he could. If he didn't, there was a possibility that he would go crazy.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

"Roxas, you can come out now. You've been in there for twenty-five minutes." Roxas ignored Axel's voice, letting the cold water wash over his clothed body, minus the hoodie, as he sat in the bathtub. His mind was finally blank, a big space of black nothing where he didn't have anything to concentrate on. Sure, he was being stubborn and over-emotional, but could he really help that? To him, he couldn't. It was just a habit his mind had, and it was a rather hard habit to break. "Roxas, come on. You can't stay in there forever, you know."

Again, Roxas ignored him. But he couldn't help but feel a little lonely, a tad bit broken, maybe even lost. After a week away from his father's daily abuse and at an apartment with two guys who genuinely took care of him, he thought it was heaven and his problems weren't so bad. But nowadays, they were attacking him relentlessly. Memories were coming back that he didn't want to relive again, that he didn't _want _to remember, no matter how it shaped him.

At the faint sound of the doorknob jiggling, Roxas slowly lifted his gaze toward the shower curtains, expecting a familiar face any second. Below and behold, Axel had entered the bathroom and pushed back the curtains after a couple of seconds of confusion. "What are you doing taking a shower with clothes on? And a cold one at that. You're going to catch a damn cold," he said, shutting off the water and grabbing his arm. Axel hauled the small boy from the bathtub and planted his feet on the ground. "Jesus christ, kid, what's wrong with you? If something's bugging you that much, you can always talk to me or Demyx, you know that right?" Axel was only awarded with a long silence.

Roxas then did something the redhead didn't expect at that moment. He leaned forward, resting his head on Axel's chest. Axel awkwardly raised his arms, not really knowing what to do at that moment, but decided on a hug. "Axel..."

"Yeah?"

"...thanks. For everything, you know. Both you and Demyx."

"Heh, no problem." Again, another stretch of silence permeated for a few seconds before Axel spoke again. "Hey, Roxas. Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Since.. you still have this week left, and Christmas is in about week... would you, um.. wanna stay for it? I mean, you really don't have any other place to go.. right?"

"Well..." Roxas paused and thought for a moment. He still had his father to go to, but once he was back in that house, it'd be hard to get out of it again. And then there was foster care, who would celebrate it most likely, but he never wanted to go there. So, in a sense, Axel was right. "No, not really. I'd love to stay for Christmas," he said quietly, half afraid of his answer, but happy that he could stay longer.

* * *

Wee! There's a reason why he's afraid, just so you guys know. But.. I'm not letting you know the reason, lol. It'll appear later, so no worries. Much -luv- to reviewers/readers! (You keep me wanting to continue this story, so you should feel special..ish..) lol 


	8. On the First Day of Christmas

AN: Yay, cookies! (-does not sound anything like a girl about to turn 16-) hehehe... Sorry this was updated kinda late tonight; I just had too much sugar at school and I felt really sick by the time I came home today. Just took a nap and had something to eat, then I had to finish up some science.

I also had, what seemed to me, a good question, lol. (Or maybe I'm desperate to answer one? ...naaaaaaah) The reason why Seifer is a jerk is simply because he's always been one in the games and it just suits him (Sorry to the Seifer fans; I personally love his attitude anyway X3). Zell isn't really as mean as him, but left in the dust of what happened to Roxas, so he wasn't really heavily blamed for the incident. (And the yelling in the last chapter was Axel screaming his head off at Seifer, mostly, outside, lol.)

Hmm.. yeah, I feel good about this chapter. It made me get rid of my headache and I just had fun typing it up (like usual. X3) So here's the next chappy; enjoy!

* * *

"Hey, runt, wake up already. We're here!" Axel poked Roxas several times in the forehead before the boy finally lifted a hand in annoyance and slapped it away, but he never lifted his head, which made Axel perservere in his poking torture. With a moan, he slapped at Axel's hand once more and opened the door, stumbling in the snow before he managed to stand straight.

It was only two days since Axel had asked him to stay for Christmas and Roxas was yet to find out why he had agreed to it. Now he was a rather large cabin in the middle of no where, it seemed, with an iced-over pond just beside it. A few random pine trees and smaller trees were scattered around the house, and snow-ladden bushes were lined across the front wall that reached just below each window sill. The place seemed to have a cozy feeling about it and Roxas was feeling a tad bit excited. This was, of course, his first real Christmas vacation.

"What's so exciting about it? Its just a log cabin a few miles from town," he said flatly, despite his sudden eagerness to explore the place. He rubbed the back of his head unconsciouly, still taking in the surroundings. Axel glanced at him with a slight scowl, then started walking toward the cabin with Demyx.

"It's the thought that counts, you know," said Demyx over his shoulder with a smile. Roxas shrugged and rolled his eyes half way before getting smacked right in the face with a snowball. His cry of words was muffled by the snow and he quickly wiped it away, staring straight at Zell.

First of all, Roxas had never wanted him nor Seifer to come, seeing as they were completely weird and rude. Neither had he want them staying at the apartment with them. Well, Zell wasn't as bad as he had thought at first; he was actually a pretty fun guy to be around and was rather good at card games and video games alike. Seifer, though, was just grumpy all the time and seemed to stare at Roxas every chance he got, which really creeped the boy out. So, all in all, it wasn't too bad. He just had a notion that Seifer was going to ruin the vacation somehow.

Now scraping his half-gloved hands in the snow, he packed it together into a sphere and smirked evilly at Zell. "Oh, the snowball fight is so on," he said as he chucked the sphere of ivory ice at the spunky blonde boy. It flew by Zell's head as he easily dodged it and began packing another of his own.

"Bring it, shorty!"

"I'm not sho-mph!"

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Axel and Demyx sat on the couch, a mug of hot cocoa in their hands only minutes after reaching the cold house. The fire was already blaring with life and Demyx sipped happily at his cocoa while Axel kept glancing out of the window, staring at the snowball fight between Zell and Roxas. With a small sigh, he hoisted his feet, which were covered by flame colored slippers, on top of the sofa and pulled out a small book from his coat pocket. Flipping it open to a certain page, he began reading from the small tattered book.

"Whatcha readin'?" asked Demyx, looking over at his friend. Axel looked over the top of the book, emerald orbs staring at Demyx with a brow raised.

"Nothing of interest. Why?" he questioned back. The blonde shrugged and took to staring back at the ground with a sip of his cocoa.

"So why did you want Roxas to stay longer?" Alex permitted silence as his answer as he kept reading. "Oh, come on, Ax. You grew attached to him, didn't you?"

"No," he snapped, green eyes flaring as he looked at Demyx. "He just didn't have anywhere else to go and I didn't want him wandering the streets and dying of pnumonia or something when he still has to pay us back."

"What about that time you both came out of the bathroom and you were half soaked and Roxas was completely drenched?" A small evil smirk appeared on the blonde's face when he was awarded a scowl from the readhead.

"Like I told you before, the stupid boy tripped on his pants when he climbed out of the bathtub and I caught him so he wouldn't knock us both over and into the wall or something. If that had happened, I could have gotten a serious concussion and you'd both be in trouble," he replied, the last of his words squeezed between gritted teeth.

"You've grown attached to him," Demyx simply stated, taking another drink from his mug. Just as Axel was about to complain, the door swung open and Roxas entered with a hand at his head, followed closely by Zell with a very pale face. Demyx blinked, looking at the pair, then at Seifer when he entered a second later. "What happened?"

"I didn't do it! Well, I didn't mean to..." Zell bursted out, trying to shrink into the wall. The two boys on the couch leaned forward to look at Roxas and noticed that a glob of melting snow was pressed on the side of his head and tinted pink.

"Shit, you gotta be kidding me." Axel snapped the book shut quickly and replaced it inside of his jacket before standing and heading over to Roxas. He pried the boy's hand away from his head and removed the patch of snow to reveal an already swelling cut above his right temple. His emerald gaze snapped over to the blonde, who seemed to be turning as white as snow itself.

"Like I said, I didn't mean to! Seifer was helping me make snowballs and the last one I threw had a rock in it, I guess... I'm really sorry," he muttered.

"Its okay. Its not really the first time I've been hit with a hidden rock surprise," said Roxas, refraining to touch the swelling injury. With a sigh, Axel dragged him inside of the kitchen and Demyx started after them, but stopped and thought better of it. It would be best if he stayed with the troublemakers.

"Kid, you really have a knack for attracting trouble to you, y'know?" muttered Axel as he turned the sink water on. He threw the rest of the tinted snow inside, then jerked Roxas' head down toward the water.

"Agh! What the hell!" Roxas planted his hands firmly on the edge of the counter, trying to pull away from both the sink and Axel's grip, but it was no use. Luke warm water rushed over his bangs and over the cut, causing it to sting. He tightened his fingers on the counter, but gave up on fighting. Axel apparently knew what he was doing.

"I hope this doesn't happen the whole week and a half we're here, Roxas. I know we can't expect it or anything, and I'm not trying to bring your.. whatever down, but I really want you to have a vacation, mmkay? It's not any fun if you keep getting hurt like this." Roxas was a tad shocked at the older teen's words, suddenly wondering if he had something up his sleeve.

"Uh.. yeah.." he murmured, straightening when Axel finally let go of the back of his neck. He took the towel from Axel's extended hand and dried his hair slightly, ruffling it to a small mess that sort of stuck out. "Where's my room, anyway? I wanna bring my stuff in." He flinched when Axel pressed a band-aid on the cut, feeling the beginning of a headache coming. _'Great.. first pain.. then more pain! What a nice start,'_ he thought.

"Well.. while you dozed off in the car, we decided on rooms. Seifer and Zell called the room with the two seperate beds and I called the big bedroom while Demyx got stuck with the third one. There isn't another room, so.. you'll have to share a room or something."

Roxas sighed. "I guess I'll just sleep on the couch. Looks comfortable enough, and I could always have the fire to keep me warm until I fall asleep. Yeah, I'll just take the couch," he said, practically thinking aloud. He then left the kitchen and exited the house, only to reenter a couple minutes later with two bags that he set carefully beside the couch.

"We're going to borrow the car and go into town for the night. Just give us a call if you need us. We are still working, after all, and that comes before vacation," said Seifer, referring to the academy-like building they attended. They never went into detail as to what they did there, but no one really cared. Axel and Demyx waved them off and retreated to their rooms, leaving Roxas to set up his make-shift bed on the couch. The sunlight was pretty much gone at that time, since they hadn't left the apartment until four o' clock in the afternoon and the trip had taken a good two hours or so.

Heaving a sigh, Roxas collapsed on the couch after changing his clothes quickly and pulled the blanket to his chin, staring at the crackling fire. He didn't know how long it was like that, just silent save for a faint tune of music and Axel's voice that sounded as if he was muttering to himself pretty loudly.. and kind of angrily. His cerulean gaze flickered to the windows, thinking about the hours that had passed so quickly.

But it was interrupted when something flashed by the window, a silhouette of some kind. Roxas' heart leaped as fear bit him hard, making him shrink into the couch. Silence was now his only friend; the music had gone and Axel's voice had stopped a while ago. A few seconds passed before the same shadow passed the window again, this time sending the boy to the edge of freaking out. What if it was a murderer on the loose? What if it was a ghost that haunted the house? If it was, either way, he would probably be the first target for anything that was on their list.

Without any time to spare, Roxas sat up quickly, shuffling his feet into the soft limegreen slippers he owned, and leaped over the couch. Nervously, he rapped on Axel's door until it swung open quickly, startling Roxas. He looked at the redhead, whose pajamas were disheveled and his hair a complete mess. The boy guessed he had been sleeping, but he didn't care. In fact, he seemed to look much better with a messy look than a half decent look. _'No.. he pulls both looks off pretty well. I'd just be kind of surprised if he could dress properly and still look good.'_ The thought came unbidden and caused Roxas to drop his eyes to his feet, a heated blush appearing on his face.

"What?" Axel's voice was slightly low, laden with weariness and a tad bit of sleep.

"I er.. I can't sleep.. out there." When he thought Axel would look at him dumbly, he grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room before closing it. "Umm.. thanks."

"Yeah, yeah. I sort of knew you'd prefer to sleep in a bed," he murmured, climbing back into the relatively large bed. Roxas hesitantly did so on the opposite side, but instantly relaxed when he was warm and comfortable. Luckily, this room had no windows and he had a faint impression that Axel had locked his bedroom door, so there wasn't too much to worry about. He just hoped the figure didn't set the cabin on fire. "Night, kid. I hope you don't kick or anything, or then I'll just make you sleep with Demyx or something."

"Heh, night." A short smirk appeared on the boy's face, but he was quite sure he didn't kick in his sleep.

* * *

lol Yay! X-mas vacation! I'm kinda planning a secret plot in this 'week and a half.' (Mind you, I won't have something happen every day. lol I'll probably just skip around to different days.) Hmm.. yeah, already have an idea for the next day... -evil smirk- Well.. anyway... -coughs- Review if you want! Much luv you guys! 


	9. On the Second Day of Christmas

AN: Part dream, part morning and the rest is a journal entry of Roxas', lol. For the dream part, I imagined this really sweet song when he and his mother were talking, then the record scratching thing when the bold letters come up. X3! I just couldn't help but put a twist to the sweet moment... -coughs- Um yeah.. blame the lack of sleep from the night before (didn't sleep until about.. midnight; I wake up at 5:30 a.m. Eastern for school don't ask why, I just do -shrugs-) So yes, hope you guys enjoy this chappy as much as I did. :) --I know the journal entry takes up most of the chapter, but don't a lot of people write a lot in their entries? lol Well, you get to know a lot more about Roxas and even why he's afraid most of the time.--

* * *

_Back on that same hill again, in the meadow where the sun barely set. It seemed as if it was stuck in time whenever he came here, but Roxas never argued. It looked beautiful, as it always would. He always looked forward to its sights because it was the same spot that he and his mother always sat and watched the sunset. Nothing and no one could ever change it unless he allowed it._

"_Roxas, darling, are you okay? You look a little under the weather!" The cerulean gaze of the boy lifted to see his mother waiting for him with a bright smile on her face, a hand outstretched for him. A hesitant smile crept over his features and he hurried his pace until his hand was comfortably in hers, a warm comfort stealing inside of him._

"_No.. I just have a lot on my mind. Things are going great," he said as they took a seat in the meadow. _

"_If it's going so great, then why do you have a band-aid on your head? Did you get in a fight with someone again?" Roxas shook his head with a smile._

"_No, I was in a snowball fight with a friend and there was a small stone hidden inside. It was just an accident. I'm perfectly fine and I don't think it'll get infected since Axel is making sure it's okay." He folded his legs indian style and dropped his hands in his lap, looking at the neverending sunset. He wondered how long his life could stay the way it was now, with Axel and Demyx. About two weeks have passed that he was taken from his father and it was a surprise that he didn't hunt him down and take him back to the house. "I don't.. I don't know how long it'll last, Mom. I don't want it to end," he said quietly._

_She gently turned his head so he was looking straight up at her. "Sweetie, life isn't always fair. I know your father isn't the best person in the world, but I know that your life won't be a complete waste like you think it would be. Just make the best of what you have right now and cherish it." Roxas turned his gaze away from her, unsure if he could do just that. Maybe she didn't know about a lot of things that happened after she passed away, but she still supported him as if he told her his every secret._

"_**Come to daddy."** Roxas froze at the confusing words as his mother pulled him into an embrace, her warm breath on his neck. What was she talking about? And why was she abnormally close? It didn't feel like a mother's hug at all and it disturbed him. **"Come on, baby. You can't fight it forever."**_

"Nng.." Roxas shifted in the bed, his eyes fluttering open slightly. _'What...?'_ was his only thought when he saw a bit of red and felt an arm around his waist. He forced himself to wake up and, just as he noticed _who_ it was that was muttering aloud, wanted to freak. Axel was practically kissing up on his neck and his arm was pulling him closer, if it was possible. Acting quickly after at least a minute or so, a yelp worked its way from his throat and he began pushing at the sleeping form of Axel. "Hey! Get off you psycho perverted freak! AXEL!" Roxas squirmed backward, aware that not only was Axel's arm around his waist, but the sheets tangled around his legs like a vice that prevented him from kicking Axel in the shins. _'Damn the sheets to hell!'_ he cried in his mind, trying to think fast.

With a last hope, he put a hand over Axel's face, mostly his mouth, and pulled his head back as far as he could. Abruptly, he felt something move across the palm of his hand just as Axel's eyes opened half way, staring at him with hazy emerald eyes. Roxas drew back his hand sharply when he realized the readhead had licked it and just held it away from him, not sure what to wipe it off on.

"Good morning, runt!" said Axel cheerily despite the sleepiness in his features.

"Don't call me runt," muttered Roxas, finally wiping his hand carefully on Axel's pajama shirt. He noticed that he hadn't moved his arm nor made the move to put space between them. "Could you like... back away or something? You're kind of er.. close." Axel raised a slim eyebrow at him, a confused and almost innocent look on his face.

"Come on, Roxy, you know you like it! You were doing it all night, you know." Axel's arm tightened around the boy's waist, awarding him with a heavily blushed face.

"W-what! I did not!" he retorted. Axel shook his head and tsked him, rolling his eyes.

"Of course you were. You kept moving around and then you just sorta cuddled up to me. You'd move away after that, but then you'd cuddle up again later. I couldn't really sleep when you kept moving all over the place, so I was up half of the night."

Roxas looked dumbfounded. _'No no no no no! This is **not** happening. I was not cuddling with another guy, some stranger.. sort of. And.. he doesn't care! This is just awkward...'_ he thought, denying all possible ideas. _'I.. I... I have to get out of here. I just have to pack up in the middle of the night when they're sleeping and just leave. Yeah, that seems like a good idea! But what if that ghost/murderer person comes back? Oh well, it couldn't be the-'_

"Roxas! You're shaking like a friggin' leaf! And you look kinda pale, too. Are you sick?" Roxas was aware that Axel's hand was pressed on his forehead. "You should stay in bed, kid. I'll see if Demyx is up and we can make you some breakfast. I'll bring your stuff in here, too."

Axel scrambled out of the bed and hurried to the door, but smacked right into it when the door didn't immeidately open. He cursed under his breath when he unlocked the door and disappeared, leaving Roxas to calm down and straighten out the sheets and blankets. Seconds later, Axel had reappeared with his small back of activities, which only included his 'memory album' and a few other things to keep him entertained.

"Um.. Demyx is making pancakes, so he should have them done in a little bit. If you need anything, just give one of us a call, okay?" Roxas nodded from the spot he was sitting in, his back propped against several fluffed pillows he regained from the floor. They were cool against his back, even through his shirt, and it felt pretty good.

Once Axel had left, Roxas sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, unsure of what to do. His cerulean orbs moved over the room to spot the clock that stated it was almost ten o' clock in the morning. With a groan, looked away and thought again, deciding on writing a journal entry.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

_I had another dream about her. Mom was as beautiful as ever, the same as I remember her. I know it seemed like forever ago that she was with us, when dad wasn't as bad as he was now. She would always be able to stop him from getting too out of hand, which was why I never got abused. The funny thing that popped into my head, though, in the middle of the dream, was that I looked nothing like my mom. I didn't look like dad, either. Did I just get the oddball genes or something? I'm pretty sure that's what it is, because my dad has brown hair and brown eyes and I remember him telling me he was taller than me when he was my age. Maybe I'm just a kid that gets all of those smaller genes-I don't remember what they were called. Maybe I'll ask Mom next time I see her._

_Lately, though, I've been feeling a bit odd. I promised myself I'd never get close to anyone, friendship and relationship wise, but ever since I've been repaying my debt to Demyx and Axel, I can't help but feel that I'm creating a friendship with them. It scares me because I don't want anyone close to me. Why? Because my dad is always afraid that I'll abandon him and he'll threaten to kill my friends, although he never mentions the fear part. I just know that because it's obvious. Well, now that I really have abandoned him (actually saved from him, but he won't say that), he's going to be hunting them down and he probably **will** kill them. And I don't want that._

_  
Not only is that a reason why I have to get away, it's because of something else. I feel awkward around Axel. I feel a lot closer to him than Demyx, but maybe that's because I tell him more of anything than I tell Demyx. Sure, he saved me a lot, but now it seems like Axel became more responsible for me and it's like he won't let Demyx do anything. I can't really complain, but the more they end up helping me, I'll have to repay them, which means I have to stay longer. I don't want that. I just want to leave and go back home so they won't get killed. Maybe I'm just over exaggerating everything, but I've come to learn stuff about what my dad says from experience._

_  
I know I've written about it before, but I don't want to exactly forget it either. If I ever get a chance to fight back at my father, I want to remember everything he did to me so I can show him how bad of a father he was and show him that he can't take advantage of me anymore. I don't want to forget that he practically beat me up every day after Mom died, or he'd put me down constantly. My grades dropped a lot in school, and I eventually just quit going because it wasn't worth it. I can recall that they talked to my dad about it, but he was too drunk and stupid to really care. That's when I got the hint he didn't care about me more or less. I was just there as a toy for him to get his anger out on._

_  
That, and other things, too. One night, my dad brought a couple of his friends over for a small party about nothing. Like usual, they got extremely drunk and were obnoxiously loud. I was in my room, ignoring everything like I always do. But that night wasn't like any other night. They began talking about sex and everything and then I heard my name in the midst of the whole thing. Yeah.. that night wasn't like the others. They'd usually ambush me somewhere in the house and have their way with me; it happened at least three or so times a month. I want to have revenge someday. I know revenge is wrong, but it seems so right to me and I keep telling myself I'll have that chance. But I know I never will. I can't be as strong as Demyx and Axel._

_That's another reason why I freaked out when I woke up this morning with Axel all over me. I didn't want him any closer to me than he already is, but I can't just right out tell him "Hey I'm not gay and I don't want you to think you can rape me or something," can I? Well, he wouldn't know why. So if I can prevent him from being too comfortable with me and I can get away as soon as I can, I won't have to worry about telling them. They don't need to know... But I just have to admit to myself I have to live with the fact that maybe I_

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

The door swung open, causing Roxas to stop writing and jerk his head up to see Axel carrying a plate with a stack of pancakes and a fork sticking straight up from the middle. Once he got closer, Roxas snapped his book shut and shoved it under the blankets, taking the plate from the older teen. Not only was there syrup covering every inch of pancake, but there was whipped cream and a couple of strawberries decorating the stack as well. He took the fork from the middle and tore off a piece of the top pancake and shoved it into his mouth, instantly wanting to stuff the rest in his mouth.

His cerulean gaze leaped to Axel, who was watching him as he ate. "Tell Demyx I said thanks and it's very good," he said around the chunk of pancake. Axel nodded with a small smile and turned to head out the door. Roxas couldn't help but feel that he seemed a little disappointed in something. "And uh.. thanks for taking care of me, Axel." He noted that the eighteen-year old seemed a little brighter as he exited the room. He ate another piece of his breakfast, telling himself he had the rest of the day to finish the entry. He just wanted to enjoy his rare breakfast time.

* * *

Yay for update! lol I lurv you guys who lurv me for updating. This chapter was soley to open Roxas' past up a more for you guys so you won't be completely hidden anymore. But there's still a major plot to this whole vacation (not the end of the story, mind you. I'm not even sure how/when this story will ever end). So yes... :) Also, I may update another chapter later if my mind permits me to think of something. I don't really want to jump to the major climax yet... (But don't get your hopes too high; I'll try for another chappy since it's friday. .) 


	10. Unexpected Event

AN: Sorry for late update. x-x I'm at my brother's right now and I'm really bored since my friend went to bed (instead of staying up all night so I can lvl meh druid on WoW…) Ah well. Updating fanfic is just as fun!  So umm… yeah, the lyrics 'n stuff aren't mine (It'd be kinda weird if you didn't know the song or the band, but nonetheless, they are an awesome band and I recommend listening to the song if you don't know it!)

* * *

The next few days had gone by pretty fast, or so Roxas thought. Nothing major had happened except for a few kitchen incidents where Demyx had tried teaching him to cook. Once, while peeling potatoes for dinner, somehow Roxas managed to slice his fourth finger on his left hand deep enough where he could see his bloodstream. He didn't wince, cry, or even complain about pain, but sort of looked at the cut in amazement. "Blood is blue?" were his only words as Axel and Demyx freaked over the situation.

Seifer and Zell had come and went every other day, stating each time they left that work called for them. Roxas still wondered what exactly their job was, but he wasn't exactly going to ask. It probably wouldn't have been worth it.

Roxas now sat on the couch in front of the blazing fireplace, biting the end of his mechanical pencil as he thought of what to write next in his journal. He had a miniature radio next to him as he thought, feeling that music would let him remember things he wanted to write.

"_I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey.  
Ooh, the more I get of you,   
Stranger it feels, yeah.  
And now that your rose is in bloom,   
a light hits the gloom on the grey."_

The boy was about to begin writing until he felt a weight on the back of the couch. He turned his head to see Axel staring down at him with a grin on his face, but his eyes said something different for some reason. "Whatcha writin' about, kid?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing you need to read," replied Roxas, closing his book with his mechanical pencil inside to bookmark the page. Axel shrugged and stepped around the couch so he could sit next to the boy.

"So are you having fun? It's almost Christmas, you know. Just four more days." Roxas nodded slightly, looking down at his hands. What was there to look forward to? They weren't getting him gifts, he guessed, but he didn't really care. He lived the past ten or so years without presents, he can live longer.

"Why did you ask me to stay for Christmas, Axel?" he questioned quietly. The redhead was taken aback by the young boy's question and he snapped his emerald gaze in his direction.

"Well I... er…" He stuttered on his words, a hand raised and rubbing at his jaw. "Well… I don't want you going back to that dump of a place you call a home. Truthfully, I've been trying to see if you could be able to get emancipated on your next birthday. That's what I was doing the other day in town."

"But you said you were going out to look for a Christmas tree. Why didn't you just tell me you were going into town?" retorted Roxas, a bit irritated that Axel had lied to him about something so stupid.

"I don't know. I just didn't want you to try and poke your nose into it. I guess you could say it was my Christmas present, but…" Axel stopped and sighed, glancing over at Roxas. "They won't emancipate you. Don't ask me why because I have no clue myself. I went back a couple of hours later to see if they had made up their mind, and they just flat out declined it. So here's a substitute." Axel slipped his hand inside of his hoodie pouch and withdrew something small. Roxas caught a glimpse of white and silver, but he was still confused until he held out his hand and the older teen dropped it into his hand.

"My Ipod! When did you get it back?" he exclaimed lightly, looking at the small rectangular item with wide cerulean eyes. He was even more surprised when Axel pulled out a brand new pair of headphones to go with it.

"The very day we rescued you, of course. I just didn't know when to give it back to you," he stated nonchalantly. Of course, the last was a lie. He was waiting for the perfect time to give it back and decided Christmas was best, since he didn't know his birthday.

"Did you try to get me emancipated so I'd have to stay with you guys for like… ever to pay you off?" Cerulean clashed with emerald. "I mean, that's what you wanted, right? For me to stay and be your little house maid or something. So you won't have to hire one and pay them."

"W-what? Of course not. I was just trying to help you out as a friend. Is that so wrong..?" he asked, a bit uncomfortable that the boy had somehow seen the plan he had from the beginning. But in all reality, his words were truth. As much as he hated to, he had become friends with the boy and held respect for him. So there was no way that he would have been able to hold him to his plan.

"Well...thanks. I don't want to go back though. I'm not going to, now that I'm out and away from him," he muttered, looking down at his Ipod again.

"Well, it's simple. You're just going to have to fight whatever your old man throws at you. He's bound to try and get you back somehow, right?" Roxas looked up at the teen, amused by his perception of the situation. "Demyx and I, we're going to be right there with you. We've gotten you this far, we're going to get you all the way to the end."

It was then that it hit the young boy. He actually had friends he couldn't just push away because of his selfishness. They weren't going to go so easily, even if he tried. In the space of about a month, a friendship had been created, even when he didn't want one there. But then again, wasn't it something he had been asking for the whole time? A hidden wish he always wanted to come true?

A tear slid down Roxas' face as he looked at Axel. He was at a loss for words, not even a 'thank you' could work its way out. He let his head drop, trying to make himself say something in return. In a flash of a second, he was hugging Axel tightly as he sobbed against his chest, not bothering to fight it back. Axel simply returned the embrace lightly, the corner of his mouth curved slightly in a small smile.

As one, two, nearly three minutes passed, Roxas was calm again and simply resting against Axel's thinner body. It was extremely comfortable, he had to admit, and he was pretty warm with the older boy's arms around him. He dared to look up at Axel to find that he was looking straight down at him, as if he was curious on what he was thinking or what he was going to do next. Roxas' face heated slightly, but he didn't look away. He simply couldn't.

"Axel, I…I want to… say… um…" His words were ceased when Axel's finger pressed against his mouth. He was slightly aware that the redhead's face seemed unnaturally closer, but again, he didn't utter a word or try to move away. It seemed right to him, for lack of a better explanation. So right, that he felt himself lifting his face toward Axel's, his right hand clutching at the teen's hoodie.

Their lips were only a centimeter's breadth apart until a door slamming open startled them and made Roxas jump away from the older boy. His face was as red as a stop sign, if not any deeper, and Axel was looking the other way. Demyx came skipping out of his room clad in snow clothes, a bright and wide smile on his face.

"Hey guys! Let's go outside and start a snowball fight," he suggested happily, maybe a little too happily. Roxas and Axel both didn't really want to, for different reasons, but they agreed nonetheless. Standing from the couch, Roxas avoided contact with the older male as he rummaged through his bags and headed for the bathroom, and Axel simply left to his bedroom. Demyx's sapphire gaze switched between the two, confused as to what might have happened. "Did I miss something….?"

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-runs away from all head-bashing, rock-throwing, machine-gunning, etc.- I know! It was a little abrupt and it was ruined (and the chapter itself was pretty short, I'm sorry)… it means that something might happen soon, no? Or is that just what I want you to think? o-O Hurrrmmmmm…. Anyway, the song was "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal. Very good song/band. Listen to it. :D Well, next chappy will be up ASAP. Hope you likes! 


	11. Deja Vu Gone Wrong

AN: Wee! Sweet 16 (yesterday) – and I still don't feel any older than 10 years old at least. :) Had a crazy day (that included an energy drink and a whole container of Tic tacs; still shakin' like a leaf since lunch 10:30ish in the morning) lol I would have worked and/or updated sunday; I know, the update says 10-1, but that was like... 4 or 5 in the morning when I was at my brother's house that day. I stayed up all night and after I got home and did a couple of things, I crashed at 7:30ish (I think...) and my mom had to wake me up at 11ish to get me to turn everything off. Yesterday was just a break for me since I was celebrating my B-day with my friends down the street... Enough life-storyness! I hope you likes the chappy! ;)

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Roxas watched the snowball fight with less than half interest. Axel and Demyx were throwing their dozens of snow missiles at what seemed like seventy miles per second, only resting long enough to catch a little breath and glance at the young blonde with silly grins plastered on their faces. Then they would get serious again and start yelling taunts at each other as they began their competition again. Roxas only thought it was a competition because they had been whispering to one another ahead of the boy on their way out. He wondered what it had been about, but at that moment, it was probably the last thing in his mind that worried him.

With a new fuzzy feeling of having people who supported him, he was beginning to think of a way to get back at his father. If he got in a fix and he had to return home or something, he now had a place to go to if he got the chance to sneak out. He had friends who would welcome him with open arms and never turn him away. It made Roxas feel he accomplished something in his life, fought against his judgement and found it was for the better. But he had no idea how he had done it.

The boy heaved a sigh and looked down at the boards of the wooden porch. Suddenly, something went flying past his head to splat against the wall of the house. He looked up in time to see the snowballs had been turned on him. "Hey!" he yelled as he fell to the ground, avoiding a couple of them. He then began to army-crawl toward a chair, a few of the snowballs hitting his side and legs successfully, but completely missing his head with the help of his arm. Reaching the chair, he grabbed it and held it in front of him as a shield to ward off the snow missiles. "What are you two doing!"

"We just got bored with two people. We need you out here!" he heard Demyx yell, but he pretended to wave a flag above his head.

"No thanks! I don't want a mouth full of snow." He peeked over the edge of the chair, but as soon as he did, three snowballs came his way. He ducked quickly, deciding it would be best to stay behind the cover of the chair. "Aren't you guys do a challenge or something, anyway?"

"Yeah, I'm the victor!" Axel said in a smug tone of voice. Roxas heard the faint sound of a snowball hitting skin and guessed Demyx had thrown one at his face, the only bare skin showing on any of them. "What was that for? You can't accept a defeat, you know that?"

"Because you cheat!" whined Demyx as he ran away from the aggressive Axel that was chasing him. Roxas took this time to look over the chair again and noted it safe enough to run for the door before they reached it.

He safely retreated into the house and in a matter of minutes was back in warm pajamas that consisted of a large black shirt and gray cotton sweatpants that Roxas rather took a liking to; only because it was soft on the inside, anyway. Noticing that the two hadn't come in, he guessed they were still going at it and decided to see what was on the television. Absolutely nothing was on that caught his interest, so he flipped it back to the movie channel (which was playing The Wedding Singer AN: very good movie; I'd watch it :P), and laid down on the couch, bunching the pillow up under his head. Soon enough, however, his eyes drifted shut on their own will.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

"_Hey, Roxas..." The boy tore his gaze from his tattered shoes, looking up at the older teen. It was odd how his red hair seemed tipped in white from the reflection of the moonlight, but then again, it looked kinda cool to him. His cerulean gaze stared at Axel, waiting, anxious, and fidgety all at once as he wondered what was on his mind. "What if... We gave you a home to stay in?"_

"_What..?" said Roxas slowly as he suddenly stopped walking. He was confused despite its simplicity, unsure of how to make it in the least._

_  
"What if Demyx and I could get you permanently away from your old man?" he asked, voice nearly inaudible. His emerald gaze flickered over Roxas' face, trying to interpret his thoughts. It seemed like hours before the boy finally showed a sign of life._

_  
"I-it depends..." he murmured, looking away from the redhead. His gaze settled on the iced-over lake, lit brilliantly by the moonlight just as Axel's hair was. And his face, too; it seemed to brighten up, not only the whole world, but Axel, more than the sun ever could._

_  
A soft weight was added to his left shoulder and his eyes glanced over to see Axel's hand just before he was turned around, facing Axel. He still hung his head, unsure of everything. He was afraid to look at Axel because he didn't know what would happen. Would he cry? Would he get angry for no reason? Would he change his mind about his feelings for the rather rambunctious redhead? It didn't really matter, since he realized that he was looking straight into his green eyes, clearly lost in thought and in the emerald pools. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but he couldn't; his breath seemed to get stuck in the middle of his throat and he was left to close it slowly._

_In that space of time, he simply leaned forward, somehow knowing Axel was doing the same. Roxas felt hesitant, but it felt like he wanted to do this. He absently glanced at Axel's mouth before he let his eyes completely close, the feeling of the older boy's strikingly warm hand on his back and his chest pressed lightly against his own. Then there was the feeling of his mouth, slightly dominant, brushing his briefly. The feeling of disappointment only lasted a fraction of a second before its warmth returned, almost mashing against the sixteen-year old's possesively. The heat built up around Roxas abruptly as soon as Axel' s arm had snaked around his back completely and held him close, earning a small squeak from the blonde in the middle of the kiss. Teeth grazed his lower lip lightly, but then it was all gone and they were simply standing there, Roxas' face flushed a medium shade of crimson and Axel holding him as if to warm him up from the winter's cold, biting wind._

"_Axel, don't..."_

"_**'Don't' what?"** His body shook a tad vigorously. The first thought in his mind was the cold, but with a second shaking, he changed his mind._

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

"Don't..." he murmured, almost whispered, as hands shook him again. He lazily moved his arm out in an attempt to stop the shaking, but it was no use.

"'Don't' what!" asked an exasperated Axel. Roxas managed to open his eyes enough to note that the television was off and Axel was standing over him with an annoyed look on his face. He sat up sharply, hair a complete mess, though unaware.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"About... eight thirty; why?"

"How long have I been sleeping?"

"Probably two hours or so. We just got in a couple of minutes ago." Roxas had noticed that not long after everything else, seeing as he was still clad in the same winter clothes with a few flakes of snow caught on his flaming scarf. "Say, you wanna come outside or something? I don't really want to come in yet and Demyx was acting like a baby, saying it's too cold for him now," he said, his eyes practically making a pleading statement instead of his words. After a minute, Roxas agreed and stood to get ready, but Axel simply grabbed a coat and handed it to him. "I promise it won't be too long, since it's getting late anyway. I just wanna walk a little, just... not by myself."

After slipping the jacket on, and his shoes from the door, they headed outside. The cold seemed to hit him almost immediately, but he knew he could withstand it to a certain point. He followed the redheaded teen, his head down and staring at his feet move ahead of each other every step. Somehow it seemed vaguely familiar, but he dismissed the thought as quickly as it had entered his mind. Silence was stretched between them as they walked, but it didn't bother him too much.

"Hey, Roxas..." The blonde looked up at Axel and it suddenly struck him; it was almost exactly like his dream. The only difference was that instead of the moonlight, it was snow.

"Y-yeah?" he said, stuttering as the dream reformed in his mind piece by piece. He dropped his eyes to the ground again, his pace speeding up a little.

"What if... it was possible to give you a home to stay in?" Roxas's steps slowed and he eventually stopped at the edge of the pond, his cerulean eyes wider than usual. Sure, it wasn't the exact words from his dream, but it was close enough, wasn't it? His hands began to shake inside of his coat pockets and he cleared his throat lightly.

"I uh... er..." He didn't know what exactly to say. He was completely, undeniably, afraid. He wouldn't hide the fact from himself.

"Well, what I mean is, what if Demyx and I could make it possible where your life didn't involve your old man?"

"I... don't know..." replied the blonde slowly. He made the mistake of turning around to look at Axel. An all too familiar feeling entered Roxas as Axel put a hand on his left shoulder, only as if to reassure him. But if Roxas guessed right, this wasn't going to end up as a simple conversation. It was going to be more than that. But, truthfully, half of him was looking forward to it, _wanted_ it. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't. _'Damn it...'_ he thought, unable to get enough air in his system.

He swore Axel had begun to lean over, but he wasn't spared the time to figure it out. He had taken a step back and things happened too quickly for him to completely comprehend, like usual. His foot slipped and his body did the natural thing; his arms flung out in an attempt to balance himself, cerulean eyes wide with panic, his feet working to keep his footing. But all of it was in vain as he fell flat on his back, knocking the back of his head against the ice hard enough to make star clones appear in his vision. He was slightly aware that he slid against the ice, but once he stopped, he didn't dare sit up. His head was now a living pain of hell and he thought he'd probably get sick or something if he tried to move.

"Roxas, are you okay?" Axel's voice reached him, but barely. Taking the dare, he slowly sat up, gingerly touching his head. He winced at the pain and looked up to see Axel staring at him, emerald eyes closing in relief. Just as carefully as he sat up, Roxas began to get to his two feet. Everything was fine, feet as steady as they could be on the slippery ice. He let out a sigh, and looked at Axel again, who was trying to consider his options of running out to help him or letting the boy get back to safe land on his own.

Rolling his eyes, Roxas took a step forward, but regretted it. The sound of ice cracking made his heart pound dangerously and he looked at Axel once more, eyes wide with panic, surprise, and fear. He was then aware of the land disappearing, maybe even hitting his head against the ice again, as he was submerged under the freezing water. His breath immediately seemed as if it was snatched away as the coldness invaded his body like a virus working fifty times the normal speed. His mouth was open, desperate for air, but his body was fast losing it's control and he could only sink deeper into the extremely cold water.

_'Well... if I had to change one thing, I would have liked to see what it was like. If I had known this was how it was going to be, I would have admitted everything...'_ he thought. His eyes were already closing on their own and he thought he had seen Axel before they did, but maybe it was his imagination. The last thing he felt before he gave up fighting was the light feeling of something on the side of his face.

* * *

Hmmm yeah... To tell the truth, this is probably the longest chapter, lol. Almost 5 pages (in OpenOffice; don't know if it's any different in another document setting thinger..). Yeah, not very vocab-smart right now since I'm half tired from being hyper and weird at school. I promise something will happen in the next chappy between the two! Now I have to do chores so I don't forget. x-x

Also, thanks for the reviews. . I'll get the next chapter up ASAP. (I might be a little slow next week or something since I'm starting on a major research paper for English starting next Monday. I'll dedicate some time, whenever I have it, into the fanfic.)


	12. The Truth is Admitted

AN: Oh. Em. Gee! Mushy-mushyness! lol (And don't forget major drama...) Like I promised, something happens (no matter if it's small, they're getting somewhere!) After this chapter (and Christmas), the story will get a little weird. I want you guys to know ahead of time. There's more of an added plot and it's going to tell you that this world isn't exactly like our normal world at all. :) Only this little city!

Aero: Wow, that is weird! But happy belated (and shared! -cheers and throws confetti-) birthday! I hope yours was a good one, too. :)

All reviewers: I luv all of you. XP You guys are great and I feel like you really support me on my story (no matter if it's in an awkward way.. -coughlemoneycough- lol but I still luvs ya. :D Thanks again for all of your reviews, I really appreciate it! -listens to the new evanescence cd her dad got- :P

* * *

Everything was pitch black, an ice cold feeling drifting over Roxas as if the winter wind was biting at his bare skin. He couldn't see anything in front of him and a feeling of loneliness washed over him, knowing he was lost since he had woken up in the black world, whatever, or _wherever_, it was. He tightened his arms around his legs to be sure he was still there, still whole, but it didn't help him feel any better.

"_Death by water leaves the soul restless."_ Roxas had refused the words he had heard from a conversation long ago, but he wasn't so sure that they were a lie anymore. He just wished for his life back; sure he didn't like the abuse he had gone through, but he wished for Axel and Demyx, the help they offered when they hadn't needed to.

Abruptly, a soft hand was placed over one of his and he lifted his head. Nothing but darkness, but the feeling was still there. He strained his eyes to see through the darkness and within time, began to see a small shimmer of light. He wanted to speak a question, to talk, but he knew it would be muted by the suffocating darkness.

"Sweetie, are you giving up so easily?" He could feel his eyes widen as the light grew, revealing little by little a figure of a woman with flowing black hair and eventually green eyes.

"Mom...?" He heard his voice, almost foreign. He moved his hand, grasping onto the woman's hand tightly. "You aren't a dream, are you? You're real this time?" he asked.

"Well, if you want to call this real. But, Roxas, you really shouldn't-" He ignored her words and, after gathering his feet under him, lunged at her and embraced her as if it would be his last hug. He felt the tears, whether they were real or fake, flow down his face, eyes shut tightly. Sobs racked his body and his mother could only fall lightly to her knees and hold him while she brushed a hand repeatedly through his messy blonde hair.

"I missed you so much," he said when he could finally speak without bursting into tears and a cracked voice. "Dad, he's just changed so much since you went away. He's done so many things... But you know, I made friends. I actually found two guys who helped me when I didn't need to ask for it. Those are the best kind of friends, right? Isn't that what you told me?"

"Of course it is, Roxas. Why don't you tell me the whole story?" she murmured quietly. Roxas looked up at her, but his cerulean gaze was instantly recaptured by the scenery around them. The neverending darkness had disappeared completely, replaced by the meadow of flowers and that same hill from his dream. A small smile formed on his face as he looked back up at his mother.

"Okay." He sat there comfortably in his mother's arms, looking out over the meadow as he told the story from the day she had died. Every detail he remembered, everything that he had written in his journals, he told her. There wasn't a time she interrupted, but only nodded or hugged him tighter when she thought he was going to cry again. Every now and then, Roxas would pause and seem like he was thinking, but he was truthfully just enjoying the feeling of her hand stroking his hair. It had been too long.

"I'm sure they love you very much, honey." Roxas looked up at her, a light pink flushing his cheeks.

"Love? Don't you think that's kinda.. weird?" he asked. She shook her head with a small laugh.

"No, silly. I mean as friends. They care about you a lot, even though you probably don't really know. Demyx sounds like one of those police men types, always placing his life on the line for someone else's safety. And Axel.. he's probably the type of friend who would get both you and himself in trouble with every grown up around. But he seems to be like a motherly figure when he fussed over your fever and everything," she said.

Roxas kept quiet, unsure of how to tell her what he had been keeping from her. Sure, it was awkward to even himself, but he had to come to terms with it, right? "Mom.. I think..." he started, hands tightening on her light blue dress. "I think I like Axel. Not as a friend, but... maybe..."

"Well, do you or don't you?" she asked. The question surprised Roxas greatly. He had expected a disgusted sound or neglection, but she had asked him a simple question instead.

"I don't know..." His cerulean gaze fell to the green lush grass. The same lush green that reminded him of Axel. "I don't know," he murmured again.

"Why don't you find out then? I'm sure, from everything you have told me, he must be feeling something. If you don't go back and reassure him you're just fine, what would you think would happen? What if he's feeling the same way, Roxas?" Her eyes were now on him, a soft smile on her face. She totally accepted her son's feelings, knew she couldn't change the mutual feeling of affection a person felt for another, even if it was small. It just took time to grow.

"You're right, Mom. You're always right..." Roxas' arms tightened around his mother's waist as he buried his face into her stomach, a few tears slipping down his cheeks. He had to go back, had to fight through that terrible loneliness and get back to Axel and Demyx. It wasn't his time to die yet. "I love you. I'll make sure the next time something goes wrong, it'll be the right time for me," he said.

"Take care, Roxas. Remember, don't let your father hold you down. Decide for yourself, do what you think is right, even when others say it's wrong. You have to very strong and loving friends who will stay by your side through anything. Remember the strength you have, and remember I'll always be right beside you, even in your darkest times. I love you, forever and always, my son. And tell your father something for me, the next time you get to see him. Tell him..."

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas' eyes fluttered open. Just as he opened his mouth, he was thrust into a fit of coughing and he turned onto his left side, one hand clutching the blankets and the other at his mouth. His throat was terribly dry and rough, and every time he caughed, it just caused pain. Once control of himself again, though, he took the time to sit up and look around. He recognized the room to be Axel's, and with further inspection, found him sitting in a chair at the desk. A heavy blanket was draped around his shoulders and his head was laying across his left arm. He could make out the shape of a pencil, slightly lopsided, in his right hand, and wondered what he had been doing.

His cerulean eyes then leaped to the bedside stand and landed on the glass of water. He immediately grasped it and drank the clear liquid without a break, his throat feeling much better than before.

"Roxas!" Axel's voice reached him just as he set the glass down and his body stilled. Slowly, he looked back over at the redheaded teen. Axel was gaping at the boy, clearly surprised and happy at the same time. If his mother had been there at that moment, she would have insisted that he was probably happier than anyone else on the planet.

"Hey, Axel," he said, admitting a smile on his face. He wasn't ready for the quick movement and the arms that wrapped around him so tight he felt he couldn't breath; he even thought his face was probably turning blue by the sixth second. "U-uh.. Axel... I-can't-breath..." His arms loosened, but he didn't let go.

"Kid, I thought you were going to die any time soon. Actually, I thought you had died about two hours ago, because it looked like you weren't breathing. Jesus christ, you can't scare us like that every again, okay? Do you hear me, Roxas?" He nodded quickly so Axel would let go of him.

"What exactly happened? How long have I been out for?"

"Like, two days," replied Axel, rubbing at his arms. Roxas looked over him and noted that the older teen seemed much skinnier than before, making him wonder how hard it had really hit the two boys. "Demyx and I both were afraid you were really a goner. Seifer and Zell came back yesterday, sympathized a little-well, Zell did a lot. He was actually bawling his eyes out. But they had to leave again about five hours after that." He fell silent then, staring at Roxas.

"Have you been eating okay, Axel?" he questioned, squinting his eyes accusingly. Axel squirmed uneasily, scratching his chin lightly with a finger.

"O-of course I have. Why wouldn't I?" Roxas only rose an eyebrow, his jaw fixating in irritation. "Okay! Fine, no I haven't been eating a lot. I've been too worried... It's my fault, you know.."

"What? What's your fault?"

Axel sighed. "Everything that happened Thursday-it was my fault. If I hadn't asked you to walk with me, you wouldn't have slipped on the ice and all of that stuff. You wouldn't have almost drowned, or had to stay in bed for two days straight without waking up or eating or anything. You could have died and-"

"Shut up!" Roxas shot harshly. His hands were gripping his ankles tightly, eyes closed and his teeth gritting together. "Just shut up, Axel! It isn't your fault, okay? That just isn't you to talk like that! You're supposed to be trying to cheer me up like you always do, not bash yourself over something so stupid and small. I'm alive, see? Who _cares_ if I was unconscious for two days? What's happening _now_ is more important than what happened _then_." His throat began hurting all over again, but he didn't regret yelling. It was how he felt about the situation and Axel's accusations toward himself was just pissing him off.

"Roxas..."

"I saw my mom, Axel. I really did die, but you know what? I didn't care. When my mom found me, she made the darkness go away. We talked for a long time and I told her everything that happened to me. I told her about dad, and about you and Demyx, too. Then she told me something important-something I'm not going to forget any time soon. That's why I decided to fight back. I still had time and I took it. I came back... because I wanted to be with you and Demyx. You guys gave me a place I can now be comfortable calling a home." He paused momentarily to rub at his eyes with an arm and to rest his throat. He hadn't felt so emotional since his mother passed on, but he felt more relaxed and at rest now that he had had a chance to speak with her.

"Axel, you two have given me so much and I didn't ask for a damn thing. I was happy with the life I had before. I was just fine running away from my dad for a while and walking around the streets. But then it changed, even when I didn't think it did. It got better, and I got more comfortable with the daily jokes and teasing. I began thinking, 'how could I have ever lived with my dad like that for so long?'" His voice began cracking slightly and he rubbed at his eyes again. "I want to live with you and Demyx, Axel. I don't want a foster home and I don't want to go back to my dad. I don't want to be living on the streets like I said I would have preferred. I want to stay... with you..."

Roxas was briefly aware that he had been pulled close into a hug. The warmth that embraced him calmed the boy immediately, driving off the verge of tears that threatened to spill out again. Just as he felt Axel beginning to move away, his hands clutched at the older teen's gray shirt and stopped him. He lifted his head, his cerulean eyes locking with Axel's emerald ones. It felt as if butterflies were stuck in his stomach and he thought that it was now or never. If what his mother said was true, it had to be that moment that he could prove her words to be right.

A patience-shattering second, two, went by, and Roxas began to feel uneasy. That's when he saw Axel smirk, raising an eyebrow that seemed to taunt him. _"Do what you think is right, even when others say it's wrong."_ Closing his eyes, Roxas took the leap of faith and leaned up abruptly. He was both happy and surprised when he felt Axel's mouth on his; he had expected a rejection, but like his mother, he didn't get any. Instead, he could feel Axel's teeth teasing his lower lip and his hands slipping under his shirt, only to settle at the small of his back and pull him closer.

"You didn't happen to tell your mom some other things, did you...?" Axel inquired when he broke away momentarily to catch his breath. Roxas let his head rest against the older teen's chest, his face slightly flushed as he realized what he had just done. He wasn't the relationship type of boy, let alone one to establish _friendships_.

"I might have told her I liked you..." he murmured shyly, letting his eyes close.

"And she didn't care?"

"Not at all."

"Well, now I'm curious as hell. How long have you been having these fantasies of yours, Roxas, hmm?" He didn't get a response, so he looked down to see that Roxas' breathing had changed. He was asleep, so Axel only smirked and sat there, holding the boy. He probably needed the sleep, despite being out for two days. There would definitely be a huge meal waiting when he woke up next time after he told Demyx the news that he wasn't going to die.

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Yay, next chappy. :) Like I said before, things are gonna change (a little, if not much). The world is going to be introduced little by little as the boys' lives go haywire after Christmas. I'm not going to go into an x-mas chapter (unless you guys really want me to, then I could scrap something up. ;D). Things become more dramatic, the mushyness will evolve into more detail (I'm sorry if you're disappointed about it in this chapter, but I said /something/ will happen, not /something big/) -coughs- Anyway, new surprises come. ;P I'm done ranting now. -hugz all- 


	13. A Bit of Teases, A Bit of Threats

AN: Sorry for the extremely late update, peoples! I've just had a rough weekend and I couldn't really keep my mind on track of the story; so I waited until I was a majority better. Then I was suffocated with english homework! -fake cheer- Anyway, here's the next chappy! I hope you enjoy it. :)

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Roxas slipped quietly through the apartment door, his cerulean gaze looking everywhere to make sure they weren't in sight. He'd been out a little later than usual and he didn't exactly want to get tackled by the two boys because they were worrying to death about him. _'Speaking of them... where are they?'_ he thought, closing the door just as quietly as he had opened it.

"Roxas! Welcome home, little buddy!" Roxas froze in mid-step, his eyes already on the... slightly drunk Axel?

"Axel, are you drinking?" he asked, letting his arms fall to his side. He quickly took in the clothes, which was nothing more than a tank top, a black unzipped jacket and a pair of red flannel pajama bottomes. Demyx then appeared behind him, appearing much more sober with a smile on his face, who was wearing a loose blue shirt and _blue_ flannel pajama bottoms.

"Yeah, he does this every year when it's almost New Year's. So don't mind him, okay?" he said in a chipper tone. Roxas rose an eyebrow, eyeing the two.

"Why, exactly, is it so quiet?"

"Because Axel likes it that way when he's drinking. Don't ask me why, but.. it's just him. So, where were you at?"

"Just walking around the park..." murmured Roxas, starting toward the hallway. Almost immediately, he heard a clammor and was dragged down to the ground a second after, letting out a yelp in his surprised. "Hey! What in the world are you doing?"

"Roxas, is ly-ing!" said Axel, drawing out the word. "You're secretly meeting someone, aren't you? Are you cheating on me? Is it a girl? Have you guys kissed yet? Did you guys have sex?" He whispered the last in a curious hiss. Roxas wanted to elbow him in the stomach, but instead, fought him off and scrambled away.

"Are you crazy? I'm not the type of kid who goes around and has sex with random people, let alone.. _have_ sex!" he growled, glaring at the drunken Axel. "Plus, it's not like we're going out, anyway! So get a grip on yourself, okay?"

"Aww, little Roxas is throwing a temper tantrum! He looks so cute!" Axel quickly, for a half drunk lunatic, snatched Roxas' arm and dragged him onto his lap, securing his arms around the boy so he couldn't escape. Roxas knew better than to struggle against him, so he just sat there with a sigh.

"Are you done yet?" he asked a minute later.

"No, I need to spend time with my Roxy sugar-bear!" he said, his arms tightening around the boy as if he was planning to fight back.

"Okay, no more alcohol for you and don't call me that," muttered Roxas, the last of his words slipping between clenched teeth. Axel's arms then began to loosen slightly, his hands slipping down to Roxas' stomach. The boy thought he was finally done with his odd charade, but he was proven insanely wrong when Axel began kissing his neck. His cerulean gaze leaped up, but saw that Demyx had left them alone in the living room. "H-hey, Ax, it's probably no-Ow! What was that for!" Roxas had jerked from the small pain Axel had inflicted on his neck and now faced him with a glare.

"What was what for, Rox?" he shot back with a smirk, reaching up with a hand and taking a hold of the boy's chin lightly. "You know...you're pretty cute when you're all pouty and trying to be mad."

Heat crept onto the blonde's face and he tried to stare defiantly at Axel. "I am not _cute_. _Cute_ is how you describe a girl, not me," he said. "And I'm not a girl..." He knew it was the weakest and the most lame comeback he had ever thought of, if nothing else had been, but he couldn't help it. He fully blamed the emerald mesmeric eyes, which was probably making him lean toward Axel eagerly and that it had nothing to do with a type of attraction. Yeah, that was probably it.

It didn't take long for Roxas to give in to Axel's persistance. He opened his mouth willingly after a few nips and teasing strokes of the redhead's tongue, and his hands grasped at the unzipped jacket. Oddly, and enjoyably enough, he tasted strawberries in the kisses and guessed it was the alcoholic beverage that Axel had been drinking before he had arrived.

Axel broke the kiss only long enough for them to regain their breath, also taking the time to press Roxas back against the more comfortable couch. Leaning forward once again to capture Roxas' mouth, he slipped his knee slowly between the boy's legs and his hands were already working on getting the worn-out hoodie off of him. As soon as it was discarded to the side, his hands went to the bottom of the gray shirt, slipping under to feather across boy's stomach. Roxas groaned softly into Axel's mouth when the friction below his waist increased dramatically.

Yet, it was over so quickly when Axel pulled away and leaned back, a stupid grin on his face. Roxas wanted to just tackle him and continue from there, but something held him back. "We need more drinks!" exclaimed Axel, who probably saw the confused and bereft look on the boy's face. "We don't have anymore.. but I know where I can get some, easy. So just wait right here, okay?" With that, he leaped to his feet and headed out of the apartment, leaving Roxas on the floor.

_'Is it possible to get drunk from someone's kisses if they were drinking...?'_ he asked himself, staring at the door. When he repeated the question in his mind, it began confused him and he let it be. It was then that he noticed one small detail he hadn't noticed before: Axel had left him with a hard-on, and probably on purpose, too. Quickly snatching up his hoodie, he placed it in his lap and glared at the door, just waiting for him to come back to the apartment.

"Axel just left, didn't he?" Roxas snapped his head in the direction of the kitchen. Demyx had poked his head around the wall and Roxas could see a few smudges on his face and only guessed he was making a mess in the kitchen again.

"Yeah. He's going to get more of that stuff he was drinking," replied the boy.

"Really? He should be back by now..." murmured the older blonde, tapping his chin with a chocolate covered finger. "He only has to go next door, so he always comes back within a minute." Roxas glanced toward the door.

"Maybe I should go see if he's all right." Quickly leaping to his feet, he started toward the door, but he was stopped by Demyx's shout.

"Take this," he said, tossing an object at him. Roxas caught it easily, but grimaced at the remains of chocolate on the pocket knife. "Just in case, you know?"

"Yeah... thanks," he murmured, looking at Demyx before he turned and headed out of the apartment. He looked to each side, hoping there was some hint that would guide him toward Axel, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. With a sigh, he decided to go left where the elevator was located, all the while fingering the knife in his pocket. Did Demyx really expect him to use a knife against Axel?

Voices suddenly drifted to the boy, making him break his thoughts and stop in his tracks. One sounded familiar; the other voice was too quiet and harsh for him to really make it out. Then it struck Roxas as to why Demyx had given him the knife. It wasn't to use against Axel, but any other freaks. _'Man, I'm stupid...'_ he thought, edging himself agianst the wall and slowly walking toward the voices.

"Sorry, but you just fucked your plans up. Killing me isn't going to get you any closer to the boy than it is to finishing your mission. I hate to bust your fun bubble, but whatever Balamb Garden assigned you to do, Seifer, isn't going to be accomplished."

A light flickered and Roxas' hand tightened on the pocket knife, pure anger welling up out of nowhere. He should have known Seifer was up to something since day one, but it never fully occurred to him that he was. As he came up on a corner across from the elevator, he began to regret ever letting his suspicion go.

"Really? I'm sure he'll be _dying_ to get revenge, since you and that freak friend of yours helped him so much. Daddy is just waiting for him to come home."

"That jackass can go to hell, be reincarnated, killed again, and go to heaven before he gets his hands on Roxas," snapped Axel. "Oh, and did I ever tell you that he probably won't even reach heaven? I doubt he'll even be reincarnated, so he's never going to get what he wants."

Roxas heard the sound of a hammer being pulled back and his instincts snapped. He rounded the corner, slipping the pocket knife skillfully out with its blade bared. Both Seifer and Axel snapped their direction toward him as he rushed at the older blonde. Seifer, pushing the redhead away with a grin, redirected his gun toward Roxas' head just as the boy paused the blade of the knife at his stomach.

"Give up, Roxas. This bullet will kill you before you even lay a scratch on me," he muttered, the sickly grin still on his face. "Plus, your daddy wants you back alive. But he also agreed that if you were too resistant, it'd be better to take you back dead."

"To hell with my dad. I'd rather be dead than go back to living with that dickhead," he growled. A bead of sweat trickled down his face, but he wasn't going to let his nervousness show. Sure, he always let people push him around, but when they pushed the wrong button, he'd act before he thought about it.

He then saw a blur of red and gray and he instantly dodged to the side, hitting his shoulder against the wall in the process. Roxas saw the two tumble to the floor from the corner of his eye and he turned around just as a gunshot went off. Luckily, Axel had Seifer's hand pinned to the ground, so it only hit the corner of a wall.

"Roxas, get back to the apartment and tell Demyx we're leaving," ordered Axel, wrenching the gun out of Seifer's hand and throwing it down the hallway.

"No way! He could kill you, Axel, and it'd be my fault!" he retorted angrily, half tempted to stab him for his stupidity instead of Seifer. But as soon as he saw the emerald green orbs staring at him, Roxas gave in and leaped over the pair. Axel scrambled off of the blonde to avoid a blow to the groin, hoping he could hold off the trained combatant long enough.

"Demyx, we have to go, right now. Axel is beating the living hell out of Seifer, at least I hope so, because he wanted to kill me or something. So he told me to hurry here and tell you that we're leaving, so _you_ have to hurry so we can get out of here." The words came out in a rush as soon as he opened the door and he stood panting slightly to catch his breath. Demyx poked his head around the wall again, sapphire eyes wide.

"What!" he exlaimed before he darted back inside of the kitchen. He quickly turned off the electronics and sprinted through the living room toward the hallway. Once he had obtained a jacket from his room, he returned back to the living room and grabbed Roxas by the arm, rushing down the hallway.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" asked Roxas stupidly, looking up at Demyx's suddenly serious face. It was odd how he was awe-struck a moment before and quickly reverted to being serious. It just didn't work that way in his mind.

"Axel said to hurry, right? So I'm hurrying!"

"Why toward the elevator?"

"Because it's our only way out! Stop asking questions and keep moving!"

"Okay, okay!" grumbled Roxas. But he didn't want to go back to the elevator. He was afraid that maybe Axel hadn't won. In fact, once the pair had reached the corner, they were still there. Seifer had Axel against the wall, an arm hooked under his chin and pressed against his throat. But the redhead didn't seem to be suffering; in fact, he had a sadistic grin on his face. Roxas reached out a hand, taking a step forward, but Demyx held his arm tight. "Let him go!"

Suddenly, Seifer's body flew away from Axel and toward the window. The glass shattered easily, but Roxas guessed that the look on Seifer's face was because of the fact he was falling about five stories to the ground, but because the person who had literally kicked him across the distance was none other than Zell.

Taking the moment to wrench his arm out of Demyx's grip, Roxas hurried past Zell and knelt beside Axel, who was dragging air back into his lungs. "Axel, are you okay? You're not going to die from suffocation, are you?" he interrogated worriedly, his hands clutching Axel's left arm tightly.

"You... are really weird, kid," muttered Axel with a grin. "I'm not going to die from suffocation unless the dipshit was still here choking me. So just relax, mmkay?"

"Then tell me why we have to leave," insisted the boy. He didn't really want to leave the town where his mother had taken such good care of him, despite the fact his father had ruined most of it.

"Now that I know that your old man is sending people after you, we have to try and lose them. It isn't going to be easy, because I'm sure he has someone to back Seifer up if he ended up unsuccessful."

"Why don't we just turn him in for child abuse and everything will be okay?"

"That's not how it works, Roxas. Sure, he'll be forced to drop his custody of you, but that doesn't mean he can't kill you. Until we can find a way to just stop everything, we're going to have to keep moving," he said, a little irritated by the questions. Roxas dropped his cerulean gaze to the floor, his hands slipping from Axel's arm.

"It wasn't about the drinks, was it? You knew that Seifer was going to do something..." he murmured. He heard the redhead sigh, taking it as a sign that his guess was right. He clenched his hands into fists, tears blurring his vision lightly. Suddenly, a loud _smack!_ Sounded, drawing the attention of both older blondes toward the pair. A red print was beginning to appear on Axel's left cheek and he raised his hand and lightly touched it, staring at the ground. "Why didn't you tell me? I have a right to know about my own life, you know. If it's being threatened, _I_ want to know. You have no right to think you and Demyx both can always help me and keep me from trouble. I don't care if I'm only sixteen! I'm mature enough!"

"No you're not." Axel muttered the words solemnly as he grabbed Roxas' arm and stood, dragging him along as they all boarded the elevator. Roxas kept quiet, knowing if he spoke any more, he would probably burst out crying and that was the last thing he wanted.

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Weee! Again, **so sorry for the late update!** I told you I'd be busy this week (and yes, last week, too. I had a major test to study for in science that was taking place on Friday). So um.. yes... cheesy beginning, no? lol I've also got new muse music! I've gotten into the new anime .hack/Roots (really new, and I'm watching it in Japanese 'cause I'm not bothered by it. :P Really good anime so far, so when it comes out in English, you guys should watch it if you know about .hack). Soooo... hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are always welcome! I will forever love you even if you don't reivew:D (Also, thanks to Meggy-san for helping me with my block today! Or else this wouldn't be up at all.) 


	14. Escape and Make Up

AN: Hi, yes I'm back.. after ages.. and ages...and even more ages of waiting--if you still read this. Wow, I congratulate you if you do! I can only give you.. more apologies than I can say for not updating or saying anything. A lot of things have happened (including my computer crashing permanently on me.. so now I use my parents' computers..). I'm a bit scared to continue the story because of you fans. x3 Who knows, you might kill me for keeping you in so much suspense. I'm sorry again. o Don't kill me! Anyway, I'm happy to say that I'm going to be a Junior this year! And my muse has kicked itself up a few notches due to lack of RPing.. I hate it. Anywho, I think I should get on with the story. Glad to be back!

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Roxas followed behind Axel as they exited the building, his eyes plastered to the ground. Demyx and Zell followed behind him, to ensure Roxas' safety. It was odd to the boy how everything could fall through. One moment, Axel was being drunk and they were making out. But now they were running from his home, _their_ home, because of his father and his hit men. If he had to label his life, it would most definitely be a tragedy. In the end, he was probably going to be killed and Axel would be crushed to the point where he convinced himself to commit suicide to be with him. Demyx would die valiantly in one of the fights, knowing he would die, but did it for the sake of letting Axel and Roxas escape from the clutches of evil. They would have a moment to themselves, where they could make up and talk of the future, of their dreams and to admit their secrets and undying loyalty to one another, then their death proceeded afterward. Yeah, his imagination had planned out his tragic demise. Sadly, it was like any other bad ending tale.

Breaking away from the sad imagery in his mind, he took a chance of looking around before they had reached the car. The street seemed silent and deserted, save for the body of Seifer on the sidewalk. Sooner or later, someone would find it and call for help. He could even see the hint of a small puddle forming from under the body-or was it coming from his head? Either way, Seifer would be dead from blood loss if not from the impact on the ground. With a quiet sigh, Roxas clambered into the backseat of the car and sat still. He wasn't going to speak a word with Axel in this mood. He had radiated anger earlier and he wasn't going to provoke him now. Demyx took his spot in the passenger's seat up front to keep Axel company, and Zell sat solemnly in the backseat behind him. All Roxas could think of anymore was what now? What's going to happen next?

Hours passed and no one was talking. Roxas was beginning to get restless and he had to continually move to keep his body from becoming numb. He hadn't even slept yet, but it was worth it. If they were going to talk about something, he would be able to hear. But then again... they would most likely wait until he fell asleep. So with an uncontent sigh, he took off his hoodie and wadded it up into a ball for a make-shift pillow, then buried half of his face in it comfortably. It wasn't long before he felt the effects of weariness setting in. Perhaps he should have went to sleep earlier.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

_"The only way we could have lost them temporarily was to go through it. It doesn't kill us, and Roxas would get used to the new surroundings anyway. He's been asleep for about five hours anyway. He'll most likely think we hit a new.. country or something. Just keep quiet and let me drive, okay?"_

Roxas awoke to Axel's voice, weary but still loud enough to carry through the car. The boy lifted his head sleepily and looked beside him. Zell was fast asleep, his body slightly slumped and his head tilted to the side. Thankfully he didn't snore. It would have been very disturbing. Demyx and Axel were obviously still awake, but the redhead was slouching slightly, giving away that he was getting tired. Roxas swept a hand through his hair and finally sat up all the way, looking outside. It was dark, but getting it seemed to be getting lighter. "Where are we..?" he finally asked, his voice quiet from sleepiness. 

"In the middle of nowhere, if you really want to know. Honestly, there's a town a couple of miles ahead we're going to stop at. We'll probably get something to eat and get some snacks for the road, then head out. At least that's what Axel has planned.." replied Demyx, looking back at him with a brief smile. "I tried to convince him to stop at a hotel, but he thinks they would catch up before we even get the chance to leave." Roxas nodded his head in compliance and looked out of his window, bored. Not even his Ipod nor his journal seemed to appeal to him. So as another hour passed, Roxas simply watched the landscape turn from empty barren fields with a few random houses to hints of a small town, which eventually appeared. They turned into the parking lot of Arby's and Axel switched the car off.

"Go ahead and take him in, Demyx. Might as well get something for Zell so he'll have something when he wakes up, and I'll go get the snacks." Axel left the car first, heading toward the gas station across the street from Arby's. Demyx waved Roxas to follow as he got out and went into the fast-food restaurant. They quickly took their orders; Roxas only got a Mocha Shake while Demyx order five melts, unsure of how hungry the others were.

"Demyx, why is Axel so...moody? He seems so far away now, and I'm not liking it very much," he asked once they were outside again. He heard Demyx sigh lightly and stopped walking.

"I'm not so sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had anything to do with your dad. Axel hates those kind of people the most. I'm pretty glad we ran into you when we did.." he murmured, then slid inside of the car. Noting that Axel wasn't back yet, Roxas decided to meet up with him at the gas station. He looked carefully before crossing the street and entered the small building, immediately spotting Axel's red hair in the candy isle. However, when he stood next to him, Roxas didn't utter a word. He was afraid. Afraid that Axel would say bitter words or say something harsh.

"I don't know what you like, so I thought maybe Skittles would be ok."

Roxas looked up at him, then smiled briefly. "Yeah, I love Skittles," he said simply. He shuffled his feet, returning his cerulean gaze to the candy. "Hey, Axel.. Sorry for slapping you back at the apartments. I was just mad that you'd put yourself in danger when you knew you could have been killed and didn't think to tell me anything. I don't want you lying to me, that's all I'm trying to say." After a moment passed, he felt the familiar weight of Axel's hand on his shoulder and his breath escaped all at once.

"Don't worry about it, kid. If anything, we should worry about what's happening now and not what happened then. Remember?" Axel then stepped up to the counter and paid for the snacks while Roxas waited at the door. Together, they walked out, but they paused at the road. "It's going to get tougher from here on out. We may be in a different place, but knowing how bad your father wants you, we're going to be traveling a lot. But you've got me and Demyx to look after you. Oh, and Zell, but he doesn't count. He's a lazy bum." A short laugh emitted itself from Roxas' throat and he comfortably leaned against the redhead.

"Thanks. If it wasn't for you guys, I think I would have made a big mistake..." The boy let his head drop slightly, his right hand suddenly latching onto Axel's hoodie. He was slightly confused as to what he was doing, but when he saw the young boy's shoulders begin to move, he realized that he was crying. Axel felt a stab at his heart, unfamiliar, but he disliked it immediately. His arms wrapped around the boy in sympathy, giving as much comfort as he possibly could.

"Hey now, don't get all mopey on me. You're cuter when you're smiling or trying to be angry at me," he said after a minute. However, when Roxas looked up at him with his tear stained face and watery eyes, he thought he still looked cute. "Well.. maybe. But I'd prefer that you stay happy. If it made you feel better to cry, I guess it's ok, but..not too much, all right? Plus we have to get back to the car and I don't want Demyx thinking we got murdered or something." Axel leaned down and planted a quick kiss on Roxas' mouth, then took a hold of his hand and led him back to the car.

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Oy.. yes.. short.. um.. well.. I know I said I had muse.. but I wasn't sure what else to tack on to this chapter. It seemed ok to end it there, but there WILL be more in the next chapter, or maybe the next one. Either way, I'll get more[And for future reference, I have a good excuse if I delay in updates. I have a temporary job for the time being and I usually don't get home until 6-7 pm (I live in Indiana, for you curious people). But I'll try my hardest to keep you guys entertained. And unless I say otherwise, I'll be around for a while! Again.. sorry for disappearing for about...5-6 months.. TT 


	15. Snap, Shine, Boom!

AN: 'Ello, reviewers/readers/fans/whatever you are. lol I'm having a spiffy day. But I've been tired recently from getting up early for no reason, and that's not good for my mind. But lucky you, my mom made home-made pizza! What relevance does it have..? Well, it makes me think better. hehe Well, this chappy was thrown together just because I'm writing off the top of my head. It's what I've been doing this whole FanFic, just so you know. I hate planning [except for the main plot because it ruins my train of thought and usually I end up changing things a lot. But, anyway, enough ranting. Enjoy!

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"Are we there yet?"

"Shut it..."

"...How about now?"

Demyx took a chance at looking at the rather annoying Zell in the passenger's seat, who simply shrugged at the heated look. With a light sigh, Demyx returned his attention to the road. He hadn't been driving for more than thiry minutes and he felt like tearing his hair from his skull in annoyance from one person. "Are you ready to knock him out yet? Because I will if you don't shut him up..." he muttered, glanced in the rear-view mirror at Axel and Roxas. But to his dismay, both were fast asleep. Roxas had started out napping against the door like usual, but he slowly ended up laying against the stubborn redhead. "Great, now I'm talking to myself."

"I'm not that bad! Come on, quit being a party pooper. Let's listen to music," piped the energetic teen. Usually Demyx could handle his sort of energy, but at the moment, he didn't feel up to it.

"No, they're sleeping. Have some common curtesy."

"Okay, fine," moped Zell. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window, letting Demyx have a moment to breath and have the tension flow out of him. But the silence didn't last for long. "Can I have some candy?"

"No!" he exclaimed. As if his secret prayers were answered, a motel was spotted in the distance. Sure, it was rather random, especially in the middle of no where, but it was something. Demyx turned the car sharply into the parking lot and turned the beaten down car off. The swift jerk of the turn had nearly thrown Roxas into the door and jolted both him and Axel awake in a startle. The redhead rubbed ran a hand through his hair, a bit confused at the sudden movement.

"Why the hell did we stop?" asked the disgruntled Axel as he glanced outside. "And why did we stop at a motel?"

"I think it's about time we took a rest. We've been driving nonstop for three days now. I seriously think it's ok to take just one night to sleep in beds and take showers and everything," replied Demyx from the front seat. He gathered his things and left the car, uncaring whether his friend liked it or not. Roxas sluggishly followed after Demyx, the sound of a shower and a warm fluffy bed appealing to him more than ever. Although Zell found the idea nice as well, he would rather run around and check out the barren lands around the motel. Knowing he was defeated, Axel made himself get out of the car after grabbing the keys and locking it up, following the pair inside.

Despite the outside seeming very rundown and trashy, the inside of the motel proved otherwise. The lobby was well furnished and clean, as well as the small area designed for guests to eat. The floor looked as if it didn't have a speck of dirt on it and the wooden desk and stairs didn't show aging nor splintering. All three boys were a bit surprised, but Demyx was the one who acquired their room without asking questions and ushered the others up the stairs before they did.

"Bed!" groaned Roxas as soon as he saw one, instantly falling onto it face down. It was very comfortable, as if it absorbed his body frame and hugged it. Surprisingly he hadn't fallen asleep at once. Axel flopped on the same bed that Roxas had taken to, jerking the boy from his comfort. "Hey... I was laying down. Quit following me."

"I can pick whatever bed I want, kid. I just happen to like this one," he shot at the boy. Roxas glared at him, but his cerulean eyes gave way that he wasn't in the mood to argue.

"Whatever, I'll just take this one. They're all the same anyway," Roxas said, submitting to his 'higher' authority. He plopped onto the bed, snuggling his face into the feather-down pillow. Just the feel of it reminded him of home, and even had a detailed picture in his mind as if it was real. Or perhaps he was asleep and dreaming again...

Axel took his eyes off of Roxas and looked over at Demyx, who had finished taking his shower and put his pajamas on. "Do you know where the last one even took us, Demyx? This place seems a bit... odd. I mean, on the outside, this place looks like no one has touched it for years, but it looks brand new in here," he stated as he sat up. "I don't like the feel of this, like one of those gut feelings. I think we shouldn't have stopped."

"You're being superstitious, Axel. Just take a chance to relax for once and enjoy sleeping in a bed. Driving all the time with no real destination isn't really something should do. I doubt Roxas even likes it."

"And how would you know what Roxas does and doesn't like?"

"I don't. It's called a guess. You don't need to get worked up about it," replied Demyx, holding up his hands. The last thing he wanted was an argument with Axel and waking the poor kid. "We're probably in a world where it's along the lines of reverse psychology or something. You know that they're usually trying to blend in with modern days anymore, and it's not often you come across a world where its just a barren waste with a random motel. It would creep the people out if they aren't desperate enough to stay."

"Whatever you say. I still don't like the feeling of this..."

"Just go back to sleep. It was so much quieter, even when Zell wouldn't shut up." Axel stuck up his middle finger toward his friend, but they both shared a grin before he turned onto his side. Demxy decided to get a bit of sleep also, just in case he had to drive again.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

"Demyx. Wake up! Come on, it's important. I gotta show you something. It's really really cool." Zell poked at the sleeping teen's face a couple of times, but with unsuccessful attempts to wake him up. He had promised himself not to wake him up so suddenly, but his discovery was fantastic. "Demyx. Get up!" He clasped onto Demyx's arm and began shaking him, getting an instant reaction across the head by his hand. "Ow.. What was that for?"

"You woke me up. Why?" he slurred, his face still half covered by the pillow.

"I found this really neat thing outside."

"And I care why..?"

"Because.. we're friends?"

Silence followed Zell's words, which made the boy slump slightly. "Fine..." Demyx finally murmured, pushing the blanket off of him and getting out of bed. "This better be more than a lizard's skeleton, because if it isn't, you'll have hell to pay."

"It's not! I swear."

Demyx followed Zell out of the room and downstairs. The woman who had been there earlier had disappeared, but most likely tending to something inside of the building. He heaved a sigh when they exited the building and headed all the way around the motel to the back. When Zell crouched and began digging at the dirt, Demyx ruffled his hair with a small growl. "You made me come out here to watch you dig like a dog in the dirt? What the hell have you been smoking? Did you have candy?"

"No! There's something right here. Just look," he said, pointing at the ground. Demyx glanced over Zell's shoulder and saw a glint of metal. It seemed as if it was of medium size, not large and certainly not small. He crouched and began dusting away the dirt; Zell had uncovered most of it to the point where an edge was showing.

"This thing is about as flat as a disk.." muttered Demyx to himself. He began pulling at the metal disk, thinking it would be a challenge. But after one good pull, it simply slipped out of the dirt, leaving Demyx sitting in the dirt. He turned it around in his hands, noting a red circular piece of glass on the bottom..or was it the top? He wasn't sure, but it was weird.

"Maybe it's a frisbee!" exclaimed Zell, snatching the disk from his hands.

"No, Zell, don't mess with it. We don't know what it really is yet," snapped Demyx, taking it back. "How did you find this?"

"I tripped over it." Demyx gave Zell a flat look, but the boy only shrugged and shook his head slightly. "Seriously." Suddenly, a light briefly flashed in the boys' eyes, which was awkward in the darkening sky. The sun would have never been the bright against something.

_Beep..._

"What was that?" asked Demyx.

"What was what?"

_Beep..._

"That."

"The beeping? It's coming from that thing in your hands," said Zell. "And that red glass is really starting to irritate me. Move it out of the sun."

"It's not in the sun...**Shit**! Zell, come on let's go," he said, dropping the object and pulling the other boy along toward the motel. "We have to get Axel and Roxas and-"

* * *

And suspense reigns! I think.. x3 Don't be mad at me, but I'm already working on the next chapter to make it up! Yeah, it is kind of weird and random right now, completely different from how it began, but that's what happens when people run away. It changes like crazy. But I guarantee you that things will get better and other stuff will happen. 


	16. Burn, Baby, Burn

AN: w00t! Another chappy today. I was really slow on creating this one at first, but I quickly got a good idea for it after the first couple of paragraphs. It just wouldn't be KH if certain things didn't happen right? Well, I planted them in the story with reason. Enjoy this chapter! Luff

* * *

Roxas turned onto his side, opening his eyes slowly. It was rather dark out now, so he must have been sleeping for a long time. Axel was still in his bed too, but Demyx or Zell didn't appear to be here. _Strange..._ he thought, but sat up and dismissed it. He slowly made his way to the bathroom, used the toilet, and washed his hands after flushing. Still feeling a bit tired, he bent down and splashed a handful of cool water onto his face and moved his hand around for the towel. But instead of finding the fluff warmth of a towel, he was graced with the material of a shirt and a body beneath it. Roxas jerked his head up, his eyes snapping open to see that it was only Axel. 

"Oh, hey..I thought you were sleeping," he said, reaching for the towel.

"I'm a light sleeper..."

Roxas glanced at Axel. Something didn't seem right about him, but maybe it was because of everything that happened, plus he had just woke up. "Ah. Well, if I woke you, I didn't mean to. I just had to use the bathroom. I'm guessing that Zell and Demyx are outside or something."

"They're dealt with, yes," replied Axel, leaning against the bathroom wall.

"What..?" questioned Roxas, getting a little weirded out.

"It means we're alone, you know. They're out having fun.. in the lobby or something, so now we have our own quality time now." Axel grabbed the young boy and closed the door to the bathroom, shoving him up against it afterward. His mouth crashed down on Roxas', his hands pinning him against the door. Roxas was confused; he knew they liked each other more than friends, but he didn't imagine Axel acting this way. It just didn't seem like him. But he couldn't help but just give in and kiss him back. "Let's just leave them here and go somewhere. We could go to Destiny Isle, where's there's beach and everything. If we need to get extra food, we could always go back to the mainland-it's not that far from the island. It's like our own private resort."

"W-what..? Axel, don't you think-" But the boy was cut off when he kissed him again, making the words disappear from his mouth and his mind. He felt Axel's hand move along his arm and his shoulder, eventually reaching his neck. It made him feel different, but he liked it. But he wasn't ready for the pressure on his throat, cutting off his air supply. It was only then he realized that Axel wasn't kissing him anymore, but grinning maniacally. His hand clutched the wrist of the hand choking him, but it didn't help any.

_This is a dream.. No, it's a nightmare. Axel would never do this, even to Demyx or Zell.._ he fleetingly thought. Roxas tried his hardest to breath. His cerulean gaze leaped to Axel's emerald eyes, glaring hatred. He then brought his leg up sharply, kneeing him right in the gut. It was effective, making the hold on his throat loosen, but it wasn't enough to make him let go. "I... trusted you," he managed to spit out angrily.

"Sorry, but I'm not one you can really trust, brat. You don't even know who I really am," said the twisted redhead. "Too bad you won't live long enough to tell them what happened to your poor friend or.. who the impostor is. Your dad will understand that you got in a crash while going through dangerous portals to other worlds." Without giving the boy a chance to react, he threw Roxas against the wall brutally enough to render him unconscious. He grimaced at the sight of the bit of blood on the floor next to the boy's head. He would finish him off later.

In the next room, Axel heard the door slam open. The same sadistic grin appeared on his face as he took his leave of the bathroom and face the figure who had entered the room. "So nice of you to drop in on your boyfriend's funeral. I thought I wouldn't get the liberty of seeing you again so soon...Axel."

"The hell you did. I know Roxas isn't dead, he's tougher than you think," he spat toward the impostor. "If you think you're so much better, why don't you show me who you really are. What do you really look like, asshole."

The figure laughed. "I don't have my own definite appearance. Ok, so I'm pretty much nothing but a bunch of particles. I don't even have a permanent gender, but I prefer to act as a female. I simply.. look and choose who I want to be. I just so happened to like your look so much better. And it seemed very effective on the fools you call your friends."

"Heartless..." Axel hissed. "No. You aren't one of those scum; they don't have personality like you do. You're a Lost Soul, aren't you?"

Golden eyes flashed toward Axel. In an instance, his replica disappeared and was confronted by a black fog, ebon particles of...nothing. A face emerged from the cloud, the basic shape of a female in the outline of a simple dress. Her skin transformed from black to a delicate pale, her hair constantly moving in wisps with every movement. Axel was a bit stunned by a quick transformation, but he recognized what she was.

"Whisperer. Your kind shouldn't even exist, Lost Souls..." spat Axel, ignoring the blade that was pressed against his throat.

"What will it get you to fight back like that rambunctious little kid? He didn't do such a good job, but he didn't give up. He had a lot of... spirit." A slim smirk appeared on her flawless face, her golden eyes penetrating Axel's. "Too bad he couldn't live longer to see you die. I think he would have preferred that. If you take a chance to look, he's still in the bathroom. Where _you_ left him..."

Axel swallowed and looked past her shoulder. Like she said, he was there, lying on the floor motionless. The puddle of blood near his head was more than enough to piss him off. "I don't know who you are, or if his dad sent you, but I'm sending you to a hell you'll never get out of," he growled. His hands bunched into fists, unaware that the weapons that appeared in his hands had come from no where. Even when he noticed them, the first thing that crossed his mind wasn't to question or stare in awe, but to attack. He swiped one of the circular spiked weapons at the Whisperer, but she dissipated.

"Chakrams? I wasn't told about you wielding such weapons. How did you get those?" she inquired with a hiss.

"I don't think that's your problem," he said. His thoughts were of fire and revenge, to kill this demon in cold blood for harming Roxas and his other friends. He dashed toward the Whisperer, weapons poised. Axel slashed toward her several times with swift agility, but none of his hits hurt her. The Whisperer laughed mockingly at him.

"Do you honestly think normal weapons would harm me? I'm immortal compared to the likes of you," she snapped.

"Who said I only had weapons?" With a smirk, Axel swung his arm in a half circle, sending darts of fire toward her. A few missed, hitting the wall and setting it ablaze. The ones that did hit her made the demon wince and hiss in pain. Closing the distance between them again, Axel swung at her again, this time with weapons ablaze. "Save a seat for Roxas' dad when you get to hell, will ya?" he remarked before slashing through her.

Axel took a breath, about to take in what had just happened, but the heat of the fire drew his attention. _Roxas,_ was his first thought and he hurried to the bathroom, willing his weapons away. It was the only thing he could think of, as if it was of pure will that they had appeared in the first place. Gathering the boy in his arms, Axel looked at him and took his pulse. He was still breathing, only unconscious. At that moment, he felt the building shudder and slightly begin to tilt only seconds after. He braced himself, cradling Roxas to his chest as he slid toward the sink cabinet. The floor creaked under him dangerously, then a large cloud of smoke erupted through the cracks of the floor. Abruptly, the floor caved in, sending him and Roxas falling to the first floor below. Axel coughed at the smoke intruding his lungs, but was glad that he was the one who hit floor instead of the boy.

Picking Roxas up in his arms, Axel stood and made his way toward the direction he thought was the door. But as seconds burned by, he felt he wasn't going the right way.

"Axel! Roxas!"

Demyx appeared through the smoke in a rush, almost running into the pair. "Are you ok? What happened in here? I saw fire in the room and then I dropped this.. thing and-"

"First let's get out of here. Lead the way," interrupted Axel. Demyx nodded and retraced his steps, quickly leading them toward the exit. The building moaned in protest to the fire and weak floors, making Axel push Demyx faster. "Hurry, it's going to cave any second. At the last second, Demyx turned and bolted out of the building and Axel took a leap to prevent from getting caught under the falling wood. Zell had safely parked the car across the street and was currently sitting on the hood like a happy-go-lucky kid. "I told you I had a bad feeling about this place..."

Demyx helped Axel with Roxas as they crossed the street. "There was a planted bomb. The object that Zell found was a bomb, but because of it, I noticed that there was a fire in the room we were staying in. That's when I dropped it and ran. We barely made clear of the blast."

"There was a Lost Soul here, a Whisperer. I went downstairs about half an hour ago; you were gone by then. It wasn't until I heard a door slam upstairs that I got suspicious of something. Out of every room here, there wasn't a single person here. The woman who was at the desk was the Lost Soul I killed," Axel filled in as he looked over Roxas. There would be bruising and a slight bump on his head, but he was sure Roxas would be ok. "I had weapons. She called them chakrams, but I don't know where they came from. I could also mess with fire and it appeared out of no where. You know anything about this stuff?"

Demyx shook his head, but he had a faint feeling he read something about it before. "Let's just get out of here. We shouldn't take the chance of any others being around. Somebody planted this little scenario." Exchanging nods, Demyx and Axel put Roxas in the backseat while Zell got in the passenger's in the front. "I'll drive. You just sit in the back and look after Roxas. I think he'll be thirsty when he wakes up, so give him Capri Sun or water from the cooler."

Axel understood and took his seat in the back, looking at the unconscious boy. He could have dealt with Balamb Garden's specialized SeeD, but Lost Souls? What importance did Roxas have to his dad anyway? What made him so anxious to get him back if he never took care of the kid anyway?

* * *

Yep, magic, weapons. Axel wouldn't be Axel without his fire and chakrams. Oh, and the 'Whisperer' I just made that creature up. I might be doing that more often in this story, because it was kind of fun creating that thing. Maybe I'll make a crappy art of it! hehe Well I hope you liked this one. I'll get to work on the next chappy ASAP. 


	17. Brief Peace and Mysteries Anew

AN: 'Ello readers. Another chappy for you. But I've been thinking about my story [and yes, I amaze myself at some things I type, seriously and I made myself think in a reader's view. Some of you might think why the relationship is going as slow as it is-It's because I don't like rushed relationships. Things will happen when they happen. And if you are one of those people who thought this was going to be a normal city-life like story-I thought so too. But I guess I can't stay with that for too long. But I have a great ending already thought up for this story and it's gonna be a big surprise. Anyway, I know a lot of things are changing from the beginning, but that's how a story is! But I hope you guys still like it anyway. There will be confusing parts, so don't worry about it. Well, enjoy!_  
_

* * *

_"Hey, he's coming around."_

Roxas slowly opened his eyes, his head pounding in pain. A light groan escaped his throat as he put a hand to his forehead, enough to block most of the sunlight from reaching his eyes. He could barely remember what had happened at all; it couldn't have been a dream because they didn't put this sort of pain in a person's body. Roxas tried to move, but a hand pressed itself onto his chest. It was a familiar feeling, a comforting touch he remembered from Axel. _Axel!_ "No, get off me! I'll kick your ass!" he shouted, swatting the hand away and sitting up sharply. A big mistake. His head entered a light-headed state, causing him to lean against the door until it passed over. He felt sick to his stomach and his throat was oddly itchy and dry.

"Roxas, it's ok. I wasn't the one in the room with you," said Axel. He retrieved a Capri Sun from the cooler at his feet and held it out for the boy, who gingerly took it. But instead of drinking it first, he put it on his forehead. "It was a Lost Soul, a Whisperer to be exact. They can take form of anyone they want with just one look at them. I was awake before you were and decided to get something to eat, but when I went downstairs, there was no one at the desk. I started to get suspicious, but I didn't think anything of it until I heard something coming from upstairs."

"And we ran into a bomb!" interrupted Zell, looking at the pair in the backseat with a grin on his face. When all he got was a flat stare and a look that claimed him crazy, he shrugged. "What? It's true."

"Anyway, all we know is that it had to be planted. For whatever reason, I personally think that your dad has some kind of control over them somehow."

"He..It did mention something about my dad. But I was confused because it said something about different worlds. There's no such thing, is there?" he asked. Roxas finally stabbed the straw through the pouch and began to drink as he waited for an answer. Axel had glanced toward Demyx, but he pretended not to listen in. Zell had turned back to face the front window, leaving Axel to explain by himself.

"Well, it sorta is true. Ok, so it _is_ true. We were going to tell you, but we weren't sure if you would freak out or something." Demyx glanced in the rear view mirror at Axel, arching an eyebrow when his emerald gaze locked with baby blue. "Ok, so I thought that. You can call it pathetic, but some people would react that way."

"You mean there's other worlds? And you didn't tell me? I should stab you for that..." muttered Roxas. A smile then worked it's way onto the boy's face, giving the redhead relief that he wasn't mad nor freaking. "So..are we going to visit a big city soon? I want to have fun, not run away in fear and do it until I die or something. If we're going to travel, I want to see all the worlds. I want to be able to tell people about them. And whenever I see my Mom again, I want to tell her, too."

Axel opened his mouth to decline his adventurous request, but the look the boy had on his face made the redhead's heart twist sympathetically. Roxas was practically an orphan at heart, with is mother dead and his father being a ruthless dick. Demyx, Axel and Zell were the only people he felt he could count on. With a sigh, Axel brushed a hand through his hair and leaned back, watching the teen for a few seconds. "Ok. We can go to Twilight Town first. I think you'd like it there."

Demyx smirked in the front seat, knowing he would have eventually caved in. He had already planned to go somewhere big anyway, but never thought Twilight Town would have been the first stop. As much as Axel tried to convince him after all this time with the kid, he knew he was attached to Roxas more than anyone would know. Even Demyx felt as if he was more like a little brother than a boy he saved a couple of times.

"Thanks guys. It means a lot," said Roxas quietly, finishing his drink. He glanced out of the window, but couldn't believe what he saw. Already, it had changed from a barren land to lush grass and hints of a large community coming up. "W-whoa. Wait, how can you be sure this is the right place? Is it a random teleport or something?"

"No. You see, this isn't an ordinary car. It may look like a rundown piece of crap car, but that's the way we want it to look. You just put in the world you wanna visit and it takes you there as soon as it finds the right portal. It's like a map," explained Demyx.

"You know.. the way you said it makes it sound like we're time travelers or something. Or aliens."

"You watch too many sci-fi movies, Zell."

"I think it's awesome," said Roxas, looking at everyone else briefly before looking back outside. He could just barely see the makings of a large city ahead and his excitement grew. As soon as they had passed the entrance, Demyx turned to the right and parked the car as everybody gathered what little possessions they had in the car.

"Ok. Wander to your heart's content. The people here are friendly, so don't worry. The kids can be a little mean sometimes, though. I'm gonna go meet up with a friend. I'm sure you remember him, Axel," said Demyx, locking up the car once everyone was out of it.

"Oh yeah, tell him I said thanks for that present. It came in handy all right," replied the redhead with a grin. By the time Axel had turned around to follow Roxas around the city, he noted that he was gone. "Oh come on.. this is cheap. Roxas! Get back here!"

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas' wandering cerulean eyes never stopped wandering the sights of the city. People were laughing, smiling and playing around while some where serious and were hurrying places. But they were all polite and even nodded to him sometimes as a greeting. But as he walked along, his eyes pinpointed a bulletin that immediately drew curiosity. His eyes scanned the bulletin, taking in the news around town and part-time jobs. One was about a haunted motel that had burned down, in which they had some crazy story for instead of the real deal. Luckily no one was there when it happened, which was about two days ago from what Axel told him. A particular article caught his attention:

**Sixteen Year Old Girl Missing**

**Naminé was last seen near the train station by her parents. **

**Some of the locals claim they saw her kidnapped by a figure in a black cloak,**

**describing them to be about six feet tall and wielding a strange weapon.**

**However, other say she had fallen off of the wall due to carelessness.**

**Authorities say, either way, there is no evidence of her whereabouts.**

**If you happen to locate her, please bring her home.**

Roxas glanced around, then took the page off of the bulletin. Who would want to kidnap kids anyway? Doing it for ransom was overrated and raping them didn't give them any fame. Well, she was pretty. Her hair was practically bleach blond, reaching just below her shoulders, and she had eyes that oddly resembled his own. In the picture they had on the page, she was wearing a simple white sundress.

"She was only here for two weeks until that happened. She's been gone for at least three weeks now." Roxas turned around to face three kids, two of them male and one female. The girl was the one who had spoken. "She was really fun to hang around. Naminé was always wanting go adventuring and she always made up these stories in her head, like a game. She sometimes persuaded us to go along with her, to play along. Except last time we didn't go with her and she ended up disappearing. The locals won't listen to us when we say she went into the forest. Instead, they have to make up these lies about getting kidnapped or falling off the wall."

"I-I'm sorry to hear that.." he murmured, looking back down at the page.

"I'm Olette, by the way. This is Hayner-" Olette pointed to the skinnier of the two boys. "-and this is Pence."

"Roxas. I have a couple of friends with me, but I took off to look around town. We're visiting for a couple days," explained Roxas, folding the paper up and pocketing it. "What's there to do for fun around here?"

"Well, the Struggle Tournament is coming up in two days. Everyone sixteen and up can participate," piped Pence.

"And you can skateboard anywhere in town and not get in trouble. At least.. as long as you stay out of people's way," said Hayner.

"And we have our own little hideout we go to every day. Just the three of us. You want to see it?" asked Olette.

Roxas smiled and nodded. "Sure." The trio of teens then led the way to their hideout. In one part of town, Roxas saw a few people setting something up and cleaning around. Hayner explained that they were getting ready for the Struggle Tournament. Following the slope across the mini plaza, Olette turned into an alley and led the way to a chain-link fence, the door slightly ajar.

"Well, here we are. It's not much, but we like to call it a home away from home," she stated, letting the boys enter first.

"Wow. This is pretty neat. Did you guys actually move all this stuff in here?"

"Yeah. We picked some of the furniture off the streets and fixed it up a little so it isn't that broken. Took a lot of hard work," said Pence.

"Here, have a Sea Salt Ice Cream. They're really good." Olette handed one of the popsicles over to the boy, who took it with slight hesitation.

"Sea..Salt?"

"Don't worry about the name. Just try it!"

Roxas did so and was surprised that it tasted good after you get around the slight salty-like taste. He spent another hour or two with his newfound friends, which Hayner eventually gave him a new outfit to wear. The previous one had been damaged in the fire when they had stayed at the motel. However, he rather liked his new one, which was practically white and was pretty much his type of clothing-baggy and comfortable.

"Thanks for the company, but I have to get back out there and find my friends. They're probably looking for me. Can I have another popsicle before I go, though? Those are good," said Roxas. Olette smiled and gave him another one, then the three of them said goodbye.

Just as he passed through the gate, Roxas looked up just in time to prevent himself from running into someone. Instantly, his mind clicked in remembrance and took a step back. Black cloak, but no weapon in sight. "Were you the one who kidnapped Naminé?" he questioned with a glare. The figure didn't answer, but instead just stood there a moment longer before disappearing in a cloud of black mist. Roxas blinked in confusion, wondering where they went and how they had done that trick.

"Roxas! You are in big trouble." Axel crossed his arms, staring at him from down the slope. The boy looked at him and smiled sheepishly, holding up the popsicle.

"Wanna try it?" But despite his cheerful demeanor, the figure was still bothering Roxas to no end.

* * *

Oo cloaked people. Scurry. lol Well, hope you like this chapter. Had to think harder than the last one! But I shouldn't have too much of a block for another chappy or so. Will get the next one up as soon as I get done writing it! Much luff to you readers/reviewers. 


	18. When Things Couldn't Get Any Stranger

AN: Yay, nother chappy. hehe I'm not sure if this one would be as good as the others, so I apologize. I've been having trouble lately and I'm trying to do other things too. blurg Anywho, hope you like this chappy. [Oh yeah, just so you guys know, I've already mapped out who the good guys are and who are the bad. So if you can decipher it, Congo Rats! That means you're awesome.

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_Gone out to look around town again. Be back later!_

"Damn that kid! **This** is why I didn't want to stop at place like this. The kid feels like he can run off whenever he wants to and think he'll be as safe as a kitten," spat Axel. He took a bite of his toast, glaring at Demyx across the table. Marluxia was happily brewing up more breakfast at the stove nearby, humming as he did and ignoring the arguing pair.

"Well, if you had a better look after him and actually put your foot down with some rules, he might listen to you for once! But no, you have to play the softy and give him everything he wants," Demyx shot back at him. Axel only rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out slightly, remnants of his chewed toast showing. "So if he asked you to jump off the end of the world, would you do it just to make him happy?"

"No! I'm not that stupid. Do you honestly think I'm that dimwitted?!" he exclaimed.

"Well you sure as hell act like it!"

"**Ladies**! Please, no arguing at the breakfast table. This is supposed to be a moment of peace and waking up."

"Shut it, Marxy!" they both said. Marluxia sighed and held up his hands.

"Jesus, not one speck of respect at their friend's home. Not one.. I do wish Larxene was here..." he muttered to himself.

"Why would you care about it anyway? It isn't like you're the one always looking after him," said Axel.

"He's like a little brother to me! I've grown just as attached as you have so you-"

"I haven't grown atta-oooh.. cookies!" Axel immediately went for the sweet goodies, the argument flying out of his head without a second thought. Demyx shook his head and sighed. "We're going to look for him. After these cookies are gone."

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas stepped through the hole in the stone wall, remembering this was what Olette had explained to him. It was hard to get the information from the trio about the missing girl's disappearance, but he eventually pried it from them with a promise of finding her. If they could help him, he was willing to try and get their friend back. However, when he passed through the hole, the forest on the other side seemed dreary and downcast, almost as if it was haunted. His cerulean gaze leaped from shadow to shadow as he walked along the path, which eventually fell short and gave way to grass. Roxas picked his way around trees, careful to keep himself in the middle of things instead of too far to either side. When he was just about to admit he was lost a couple minutes later, he saw an opening ahead of him and rushed toward it.

Just on the other side was a gate fencing in a large white house. It seemed old from first look, but in good shape. The place looked well cared for outside, the bushes flourishing in a lush green and the flowers blooming without a problem. _Do they send someone to take care of this place? It doesn't seem like anyone has passed through this gate for a while..._ he thought, placing a hand on the gate. It creaked at the sudden weight of his hand, moving slightly ajar. Taking the opportunity, he opened the gate door and stepped inside, making his way toward the front door. Whoever did take care of this place was, and possibly still is, taking good care of it.

"Hello?" he called out when he opened the front door. The interior was vast, but practically bare and in shambles. Roxas continued into the house, passing the broken case in the middle of the room. "Is there anyone here? I-I'm looking for a girl; she went missing three weeks ago..." Still no answer, so he began to ascend the stairs. Roxas ran his hand along the railing as he went up, and when he took it off, no traces of dust was left on his skin.

"What are you doing here?"

Roxas' eyes snapped upward quickly enough to spot a figure in the shadows. He couldn't tell much, but he knew it was obviously a girl from the voice and his height if not any less.

"I..I'm looking for someone. A girl. She's sixteen with bleach blond hair down to here, blue eyes. She was last seen three weeks ago and she was wearing a white dress. Well, I'm actually looking for her for my friends. They mi-"

"Why do you care anyway? You're not from around this city."

"I know, but they're my friends and they want their friend back. They miss her," he explained.

The girl stepped forward, out of the shadows, and leaned against the railing above him. Roxas took a step back in surprise; it was the exact girl who was claimed to have gone missing. _Naminé_. "And what if I said I don't want to go back? They weren't really my friends. If they were, they would have came with me instead of blowing me off for something else. They're all selfish," she retorted, glaring down at him.

"So you stayed here and let them think you died or something? The whole town knows it, not just them. People think you got kidnapped by some cloaked person and others think you died by falling to your death near the train station. Only they know you went to the forest and never came back," he said.

"I don't care. I'm not going back with them. Plus, I like it here. It's my own home."

Roxas knew he wasn't going to win, so he simply went up the stairs and stopped five feet from her. "How exactly do you live? Don't you need food and stuff?"

"Yeah. I get food from the city. That cloaked figure they saw was me. I'm not dumb enough to let them know I'm still around."

"But what about the weapon? They said there was some weird weapon they were carrying around," he shot back, arching an eyebrow. He saw Naminé smirk, then disappear into the room to their right. He followed after a slight hestitation and had to pause when all he saw was pure white.

"You mean this thing? I had to have something to make me different, in case they saw my hair or something," she said, holding up a strangely shaped object. She demonstrated by slipping it onto her hand. It resembled a claw, slightly deformed but very convincing.

"Heh, you're quite a creator. Do you do any drawing or art?"

"Yeah, actually. I draw a lot. It's the only way I can get things out of my head. I was never much of a story writer," she said with a smile, placing the object back where she had gotten it. She then took out a large drawing pad out of a drawer from the white dresser, sitting at the table in the middle of the room. Roxas took a seat next to her, leaning forward to look at the pages as she began to flip through them. He was amazed at most of these drawings, some more intricate than a piece of artwork made from scrap material. They were mostly black with tinges of red and white here and there. All of the creatures she had drawn all had golden yellow eyes that stood out.

"These are really good... I could never think of this sort of stuff," he said. An abrupt sound from downstairs suddenly caught their attention. Naminé furrowed her eyebrows, confusion setting in. She muttered something under her breath, but it wasn't loud enough for Roxas to catch it. He followed the girl out of the room when she stood and left, and looked over the railing to try and spot something. "Tell me those sounds usually happen, and that somebody isn't here..."

"Someone has to be here. This house isn't haunted and nothing would have fallen-none of the wood is rotten," she said, glancing over at him. Roxas could have sworn he saw a glint of something in her eyes, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. Out of the corner of his eye, a shadow raced across the railing and disappeared just as quickly as it had come. His heart was now pounding with fear; why wasn't she showing any? She acted as if this was a normal thing, as if she was really convinced nothing else was here except some lousy intruder.

At the last second, Roxas spotted that shadow again, heading straight for them. He grabbed Naminé's wrist and jerked her to the ground just as the figure lunged straight for them, knocking him clean in the shoulder and to the ground. He had to lay there and breath for a moment before realizing it wasn't gone just yet. Quickly struggling to his feet, Roxas stumbled backward until he felt the wall behind him and looked around. It wasn't in sight, but he knew it was still there. The odd thing about it was that it had bright yellow eyes that resembled the drawings Naminé had drawn.

From the shadows to his left, the creature emerged and lunged forward, slashing a bladed arm toward him. The edge of it sliced across his arm just below his sleeves and Roxas moved to the side, never letting his eyes leave it. It was slim and small, its hands elongated into finely pointed blades, almost like needles. Its golden yellow eyes were a bit large for its small shadowy body. It came after him again and Roxas began to stumble back, only barely aware that he was heading toward Naminé. However, when he looked back, she was gone.

"What the hell is going on? Nothing is normal anymore," he growled, dodging an attack. How was he supposed to defeat this thing when it had weapons for hands and so much speed? It wasn't too long before he found himself on his back, the shadow advancing on him quickly. If he ever lived through this, he knew Axel would never let him out of his sight again, especially with all of the cuts and bruises on him. He could always blame it on a simple street fight.

When it was practically upon him, Roxas held his arms in front of his face in a pathetic resistance against the bladed hands. Except a second went by and no pain entered his body. Was it over that quickly? He peeked open one eye, looking above with confusion, then surprise. A sword? Where had it come from? Quickly thinking, Roxas thrust his foot out toward the creature. It dissipated, giving him time to get to his feet and back himself against the wall. His body obviously wouldn't be able to do much damage, but that was probably why he had the oddly shaped sword.

A few minutes went by, still the enemy didn't reappear. He let out a slow breath, lowering the sword and taking a few steps forward. Once he reached the rail, he looked over the side; nothing had changed and it was still the same rubble-filled house. His cerulean gaze leaped to the door, curious if Naminé had retreated in there somehow. He had only took a few experimental steps when he heard a familiar voice call out.

"Roxas, behind you!"

Roxas quickly turned around, lifting his sword straight ahead of him. There was a brief moment where he swore the black sword was bathed in light, but he wasn't for sure. All he could really be sure of was the screeching of the dying creature that eventually evaporated into the air and disappeared. His mind was in a mess now, and in the mix of emotions, he dropped the sword and looked around. Olette, Hayner and Pence were there, all wide-eyed and worried about him.

"Guys, I saw Naminé, she was here!" he told them as they came running to him. "She showed me drawings and everything, and she's been going into town as a cloaked person with this weird claw thing on her right arm. She's staying here because she doesn't believe you guys really care about her. But.. the weird thing is that her drawings-one of them looked like that...thing."

"Naminé was known for her creative mind, so yeah she drew a lot. But she always drew these really pretty pictures of castles and stuff. Nothing like that," said Olette, shaking her head.

"No, no I saw it. I really did," he retorted, furrowing his eyebrows. Suddenly a laughter could be heard. Would the random pop-ups ever quit wherever he went? Roxas glanced around, saw nothing, but kept hearing it. "I think we should leave... We can always come back another day and figure it out."

As the four of them made a quick exit of the house, a cloaked figure stayed hidden in the shadows, a female. A grin was on her face, triumph clear in her face. "Good work, puppet. I knew you'd be useful the very day I found you here. It was only a matter of time before they showed up," she said. "Now..to figure out how to toy with his pathetic existence before getting rid of him.."

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Next chappy in the works. Glad to have new fans/reviwers. Major luff to you guys. x3 


	19. Kiss and Make Up

AN: UGH! I hope you guys are happy with this. Jebus. lol I'm JK!!!! I luff you guys. x3 So much I put something extra at the end of this chappy to make you happy. This would have been completed and up sooner, but I was sidetracked for a while [real life crap. But now it's up so I hope you enjoy it. No, don't bash on how I explain things in my story. I like every space, letter and punctuation!... heehee Anywho, enjoy. [Oh and by the way, this fanfic has reached over 4500 hits. I just had to state that cuz it makes me happy.

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Roxas closed the door to the house quietly, his cerulean orbs glancing about for any sign of Axel or Demyx. The first thing he planned on doing was taking a shower and making himself look better than his currently position. So far the coast was clear, so he went into the room he was staying in and snatched his bag, picking out pajamas to wear. Roxas peeked out of the door first before stepping out and heading for the bathroom. They all must have been out, because Roxas would have expected one of them to pop out and surprise him. 

However, he might have expected too less of them. Just as he reached for the knob of the bathroom door, it opened to reveal Marluxia. Roxas blinked and stood there stupidly, his arm outstretched. Marluxia simply looked up and stared back. "Uh.. Gonna take a shower.." mumbled Roxas, finally recomposing himself.

"Heh, no you aren't. Axel and Demyx have been looking for you. You're either staying in your room or the living room," he stated firmly to the boy. "Or better yet, chain you somewhere so you can't get loose on the town again." With a smirk, Marluxia dangled a pair of hand cuffs in front of Roxas' face.

"Wait, no that's not right! Where did you pull that from anyway? Magic?"

"No, I was planning on doing it if you came back before they did. I'll just cuff you to the heater in the living room, just so you have the television when you get bored," he said bluntly, instantly snapping it onto Roxas' right wrist before he could react. Marluxia then led him to the living room and cuffed the other side to one of the outer-most bars of the heater. "Oh, and before you ask or try to get loose, those are real hand cuffs and the heater _is_ connected to the wall permanently. So just sit tight and watch some cartoons." He tossed the remote to Roxas, who only glared at the guy until he disappeared around the wall.

"This is ridiculous! Axel is gonna kick your ass for this because you're not supposed to mistreat me!" he shouted. Roxas got no reply to the threat, so he laid his back against the wall with a rough sigh. It was bad enough being cuffed to something, but it got worse when it reminded him of his father. He tugged the cuffs by the chain link, jiggling it and wiggling it harder each time nonstop until his wrist started to hurt and his arm got tired. "God, this is ridiculous!" Roxas settled his head against the heater, eventually closing his eyes to try and prevent a headache from arriving in his head.

"Sunshine, wake up! Marxy, are you sure you didn't beat him up? He looks...torn up."

Roxas opened his eyes slowly, coming face to face with a very close Axel. He jerked his head back when he saw Axel's hand come up, hitting the wall hard and letting out a hiss of pain. "Damnit, Axel, why are you so close to me? Don't do that!" he snapped, rubbing the back of his head gingerly with his free hand.

"Oh, look! He's alive!" said Axel with a smirk, sitting back.

"Yeah, so can you convince your idiotic friend to get these off of me? They're kind of hurting my wrist." Roxas lifted his cuffed wrist, glaring daggers at both the redhead and Marluxia.

"It's because of the way you were laying. I just got back a couple minutes ago and Marxy said you fell asleep about five minutes before that," said Axel. He then examined Roxas' injuries from where he sat. "What happened to you..?"

"I..got in a street fight," murmured Roxas, dropping his gaze from him. He felt Axel's hand on his arm, examining one of the cuts that had been dealt to him when the fight first started. Suddenly, his face was jerked upward by the pressure of Axel's fingers, his sapphire orbs looking straight into emerald ones. His face was serious, any trace of the happy-go-lucky Axel gone.

"Tell me the truth, Roxas. I'm not easily fooled," he stated. Roxas rose a hand to Axel's in an attempt to pry it off his chin, but Axel only moved it, jerking his head lightly with it. This movement angered Roxas-he wasn't a child and he wasn't going to be treated like one. He clasped on to Axel's wrist this time, glaring at him. This only caused the redhead to push his head against the wall as he leaned a bit closer. Roxas wished he could turn his head away, feeling tears threaten eyes. "I don't want to play games. If you had simply told me the truth in the beginning, I wouldn't have to hurt you."

"I got attacked, ok? I don't know what the hell it was, but it wasn't normal," Roxas finally gritted between his teeth. He felt Axel's pressure loosen, but his hand still stayed where it was. "It.. Instead of having hands, it had blades, and its eyes were bright yellow. I went to find a girl who went missing for my new friends because they missed her. I found her in that white building on the other side of the forest..."

"Lost Souls. Sounds like it was a BladeRunner," he said simply, removing his hand from the boy's face and sitting back. "Damnit, why are they following us?"

"What are Lost Souls?"

"Demyx, we need someone who can get behind things and figure out who's controlling these things. They aren't supposed to attack like this, let alone pop up in places like Twilight Town. Do you know anyone?" Axel was up and about now, lost in thought as he paced the floor.

"I think I might know someone. We'll just have to wait for her to get back, though. It should be tonight," chimed Marluxia from the kitchen.

"Hello, can you at least let me take a shower if you aren't going to answer me?"

Marluxia appeared in the room, keys in hand, as Axel ranted about absolute nonsense to the air. Once Roxas was free, he gathered up his clothes again and made a beeline straight for the bathroom. He was tired, in pain, and needed a good shower to relax. After slipping off his shirt, Roxas glanced in the mirror, and what he saw made him pause. He only thought he had minor injuries on his arms and maybe one or two on his face, but not on his neck and torso as well. It seemed impossible because there had been on cuts in his shirt. How was it possible?

Sighing, he dismissed it from his mind, finished undressing, and got into the shower. As the luke-warm water first hit his body, every cut began to sting when not even a touch would have made it hurt. Gritting his teeth, Roxas crouched inside of the shower, waiting for his body to become numb from the pain. In his mind, he replayed his fight with the Lost Soul. It was like a mist, particles of nothing that made up a nonexistent body, yet it was still able to harm him. Roxas then remembered the night at the motel. He had kicked Axel as hard as he could, and even when he could barely breath, it should have made him back off instead of simply loosen his grip. Could that have been a Lost Soul, too? Axel admitted he wasn't the one, so it was the only possible reason. Was his father controlling these..things?

Roxas groaned and buried his face in his hands, confused enough already. Perhaps he should just finish his shower and go to bed. After ten minutes, Roxas had finished washing his hair and gotten rid of the crusted blood and dirt. However, when he pulled back the curtain of the shower, he paused and stared at Axel momentarily. At the last second, he pulled the curtain around him and pointed to the door. "What are you doing in here?! **Get out**!" he yelped. Axel looked up from his seat on the floor, a smile breaking across his face. It grew even wider when he saw that Roxas' face was as red as his own hair.

"I just wanted to check up on ya. I didn't mean to ignore you back there, but things are getting more serious than I thought. With the Lost Souls on our trail and who knows who else, it's just going to make it harder to run away from him," he said, hopping to his feet.

"So? We can handle it. We have up until now," replied Roxas, backing up as far as he could go and still keep the curtain around him. This was embarrassing.

"Yeah, but that was luck." Axel was courteous enough to hand Roxas a towel. Quickly wrapping it around his lower half, Roxas, stepped out of the shower. He had to admit that the redhead was right; it was luck that got them this far. Especially the sword that appeared out of nowhere. "Well, we might be leaving tomorrow if we can get our information by then. Larxene should be back sometime tonight, and Marluxia said she might know something about what's been happening around here lately." Silence permeated between the two, then Axel headed to the door. "So.. I'll talk to you in a bit."

Roxas didn't rush to get his clothes on after he left, pondering what had just happened. Usually Axel would do something stupid and embarrass him, but this time he held back. Roxas could tell that much. Were the recent events effecting Axel just as it was effecting himself?

Once finished, Roxas found Axel in their bedroom, sitting on the bed in pure silence in the dark. He tossed his clothes to the side, then climbed on the bed in front of the redhead. "Hey." When he didn't get an answer from him, Roxas raked a hand through his damp hair. "What's on your mind?"

"A lot."

"I'm sorry that I went off on my own today. But I really wanted to help them-"

"Then you should have asked me to come with you!" snapped Axel, interrupting the boy's explanation. Something about Axel yelling at him this time didn't anger him, but sent a sting to his heart. "Lost Souls-they can kill you whenever they want. The BladeRunner that attacked you could have stabbed you straight in the heart instead of putting all those stupid cuts on you. You could have died and then what? What's the point in running when you go off to find yourself a death wish? It isn't sane, Roxas!"

"Then why didn't you warn me about them sooner?" he asked in a quieter voice. Roxas heard nothing but silence and barely the whisp of a sigh from the redhead.

"Because I thought if you didn't know about them... you wouldn't be afraid. I didn't want something else for you to run from or to be bothered by. It's bad enough your dad is practically trying to kill you," Axel said, running both hands through his hair. He eventually just fell backward, cursing himself in his head for being so stupid. Just because he didn't mention them to Roxas didn't mean he was going to be safe. Even Zell would have known that, and he didn't think things through that often.

Axel then felt the bed move slightly, guessing that Roxas was finally fed up with him and was leaving. But instead, he felt arms wiggle their way around him and Roxas laying his head on his chest. "It's not your fault. Even if you did tell me about them, I would have left anyway. You know how stubborn I am when it comes to rules..." he muttered. He tilted his head toward Axel, simply looking at him. They hadn't been able to spend this kind of time together in a while and he wanted to savor the moment. For all he knew, they would probably end up arguing again tomorrow like a daily routine.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing in particular. Just... thinking," replied Roxas.

"Yeah right. You never just think," retorted Axel lightly. Roxas scoffed like a child, furrowing his eyebrows, then poked him in the chest.

"How would you know? We've only known each other for-"

"Even for only about six months, you're as easy to read as a book, Roxy. Admit it," he interrupted with a grin. When the boy shook his head, Axel sat up and gave him a devilish look. Roxas, already fearing the idea, put a hand to his chest.

"W-wait, what's that look for? Don't even do what you're thinking. I'll get Demyx and Marluxia in here!"

"Nah, Marxy's waiting for Larxene at the local café and Demyx is either watching a movie or fell asleep in the middle of one. I can tell you now that Zell is still out messing around town. So you're helpless!" he shot back at him. Before Roxas could scramble off of the bed, Axel attacked his sides with his fingers, tickling the boy. Roxas fought back with weak pushes and kicks, but nothing worked. His last resort was to roll over-but that went to hell. He hadn't noticed how close he was to the edge, and when he turned, he began falling. With quick reflexes, he grabbed onto one of Axel's arms as he fell to the floor, dragging the redhead down with him.

"Ow..." he murmured, partly laughing. He rubbed his head with one hand while his other still clutched unconsciously to Axel's arm. When the two looked at each other, they didn't expect the sudden electricity that passed through them. Axel hadn't seen a person look so vulnerable, let alone stare at him like that. Roxas, on the other hand, didn't exactly know what he was feeling-only that Axel was the main reason why he was reacting so weirdly to that confused look on his face. "Axel-"

One word was all he could manage before Axel cut him off with a rough kiss. His mind was reeling with different emotions, but with the way the redhead was nibbling at his lower lip and working at his shirt with one of his hands, he couldn't pinpoint any exact one. Roxas finally complied to Axel's persistence and opened his mouth, meeting his kiss with the same heat and sparks. In the midst of the kiss, Axel lifted the boy off the floor and broke the kiss only long enough to pull the shirts off of both Roxas and himself, and toss them aside. Roxas had already unbuttoned Axel's pant and was now unzipping them, but the redhead pushed him back to the floor and kept him there.

"Roxas, I just want to make sure you're ok with this. I don't want you thinking I'm rushing things."

"Quit babbling like a concerned mother. If I didn't want to do anything, I could have said or done something to make it clear," he retorted sitting up and straddling Axel's waist.

The move only built more heat and tension between the two, more than either was beginning to stand. Within a matter of seconds, Roxas had his back flat against the floor again with Axel in pursuit. However, when he paused again, Roxas glared threatening daggers at him, gritting his teeth. Then he felt the sharp pain of Axel's intrusion and Roxas dug his fingers into his arms as if they were stone pillars. A brief moment went by and then it continued. Slowly yet surely the pain began to subside into something sweeter that made his stomach do multiple flips, as if there were butterflies trapped inside.

Whenever Axel increased the friction, Roxas always bit down on his own hands to prevent his small noises to be heard. He didn't exactly want to catch the attention of anyone in the house if they were back or awake. He hadn't even thought to lock the door before anything happened; but then again, he hadn't planned on doing anything other than to talk to Axel. When Axel noted that Roxas' face had begun to turn a heated cherry red, he leaned down and captured his mouth, as well as the moan he let out when he came. As the orgasm rippled through the boy, Axel felt the effect and felt his muscles tighten seconds afterward and pulled out before he came inside of him.

Roxas laid there, breathing harder than he had bet on. Now he was sweaty and smelled of both him and Axel. His back hurt as well and wouldn't be surprised if he had a floor burn. When Axel pushed himself to get up and get the extra white sheet on the bed to clean up, Roxas was half tempted to roll onto his side and fall asleep. All the energy he thought he had had been spent, thanks to Axel.

"Hey, you feeling ok?" asked Axel, cleaning the last of the mess off of the boy and moving onto his own stomach.

"Uh.. other than feeling like I could sleep for a couple weeks, yeah..." murmured Roxas. "Well, I might have a floor burn, thanks to you.. but I think I'll live."

"Well, at least get your pants on and hop into bed so you can get some sleep." Roxas reached for his pajama bottoms near the dresser off to his left, just barely able to reach it, and pulled it on without moving off of the floor.

"Mmm, too lazy. I think I'll just nap right here.." he said with a yawn. Axel rolled his eyes and picked the boy up, already having donned a pair of his own pajama bottoms, and plopped him on the bed. Instead of bothering with the dirty sheet, he simply threw it on top of Roxas' dirty white clothes and turned off the lights before he climbed into the opposite side of the bed. "Night.."

"Night, kid."

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Ooo how exciting. I hope you liked this chappy. The next one will reveal a few secrets, so be on edge! waves wand of ..um.. doom[And near the end of the chappy, more time passed than what simple words say in a story. lol So use your .. imaginaation... lmao 


	20. Disbelief and Disappointment

AN: Hello! Sorry for the late update, it's been a day. But I was really busy this weekend! So I apologize for not working on it constantly. But at least I'm not hiatus! x3 Well, it might not be interesting, it might be, but I think this chapter is valuable to the story, even though not a lot happens. I'll try and get some humor in here sometime soon, so hold tight.

[ I met my goal! I finished with the 20th chapter before monday (not literally.. since it's 1:30 in the morning, but got it up before I start work again. heehee) Love the reviews people! If you review, I'll get more motivated to create the next chapter and try harder. So review your hearts out! Seriously.. :)

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Roxas' eyes fluttered open as the sunlight hit him directly in the face. Why, of all places, do people always have to have a bed near a window? Scratch that, why near a window on the east side of a building where the sun rises? It was bad enough that he was aching practically all over, he didn't need his head to hurt, too. Well, it was too late for that already. A headache had already worked its way into his head. With groan of protest, Roxas pushed himself into a sitting position, but kept himself propped up with a hand. He couldn't exactly remember how he fell asleep. Whatever it was, it sure as hell let him sleep fitfully, save for still being groggy and sluggish at the time. 

A movement beside him caught Roxas' attention and he glanced to his left. There was Axel, his mouth wide open and fast asleep still. It took couple of blinks and a few tries to think straight, but it all clicked within a few seconds. Pulling the sheets tightly over himself, he huddled into a little ball and stared at the bed. It was awkward to think about it now; he never thought he'd end up liking a guy, let alone thinking of a relationship with anyone. Before, his mind was always on trying to find someway out of the hell hole he had called home. In the beginning, Roxas had hated both boys that had come to his rescue, but was thankful that they were there to help. Now they were much closer and it was hard to realize why in god's small world had he even went along with last night's activities? He had put Axel on the edge when he paused, unsure of Roxas' actions as he was now with them. Had they spiked something and forced him to drink it sometime yesterday? Hardly. He knew they didn't have any chance except for the moment when it was temporarily passed out, cuffed to the heater.

Letting out another groan, this time in confusion, he buried his face in his knees, putting his sheet covered hands over his head. This was particularly insane, but he couldn't deny the fact that he had wanted every second of it to happen. He could have easily fought back, no matter if Axel was gentle and sweet or plain out rough. But he had chosen to submit to the lustful tension between them, and even demanded, a little, from Axel. They both had tried their hardest to keep from making noises, which had been harder for Roxas than it had been Axel.

A sudden poke to his side stole Roxas away from his thoughts. Lifting his head and looking at Axel, he saw that his hand hadn't moved an inch. Was it the sheet? He tested it, but nothing seemed to have been able to poke him. With a sigh, he rested his chin back on his knees, letting it go. Then it happened again and he snapped his sapphire orbs toward Axel. This time there was a grin on the guy's face and Roxas scoffed, moving away.

"Sorry, but you are _not_ going to start another tickle session. I don't think my body would be up for it," he said, gingerly rubbing at his side. It wasn't that it hurt, but it was the closest he could get to his back without having to twist around and hurt it even more. The bed moved and Axel was now facing him, a smirk on his face. All Roxas could do was scowl and bury his face against his knees even more. But not even that little haven lasted long. Axel pulled him off of the bed with him and rushed to the closet.

"Marluxia always has this thing stuffed with clothes. Maybe we can get you a decent, nice looking outfit," he chirped, rummaging through the mess of clothes in the closet. Most of it was hanging up, but there was a share of them on the floor, too; luckily it was a walk-in.

Roxas poked his head inside, glancing around before he found a pair of jeans that caught his attention. He lifted it from the floor and examined them. They were a whitewash stone in color and baggy at first look. There were rips and tears everywhere, but it was patched with a gray thin cloth on the inside. Without waiting, Roxas stripped off his pajama bottoms and slipped on the jeans. They were comfortable and practically fit right, except it was a tad too large for him. Looking up, he spotted a red and white checkered belt and slipped it through the belt holes, locking it in spot where it was loose but tight enough to keep the pants up.

"Hey, Roxas, I found you a t-" His words cut off when he turned around to see him already in a pair of jeans. It sort of changed his perceptive of the boy, but not in a bad-boy sort of way; more like really cute, especially half naked. Roxas simply took the shirt out of Axel's hands and looked at it. It was black and on the front it said _"I was the king of piracy..."_ On the back it continued with _"..until they made me take off the eye patch."_ With a shrug, he slipped it over his head and pulled it down slightly. It was practically skin tight except for being slightly loose at the bottom.

When Roxas looked at Axel, he had already donned a shirt that simply had a white shirt with a penguin on it, holding a hammer behind it's back. Underneath that was a long sleeved shirt, alternating between black and white stripes. He was currently pulling on pair of hunter green khakis when a knock at the bedroom door sounded. Roxas rushed to the door, why he did it in a hurry, he wasn't sure. Maybe it was because he had been a little transfixed on watching Axel get dressed.

Upon opening the door, he was looking at a grim Marluxia. Or maybe it was because he was tired. Either way, he wasn't the slightly cheerful guy he had seen yesterday. "Hey, Larxene is here. You might wanna get Axel out here with you and listen to what she has to say," he said, finishing the sentence with a yawn. Yep, he was tired and worn out. He had probably stayed up all night talking to her.

"Ok, we'll be out in a sec. Axel is getting-"

"Ready to listen! Come on, buddy." Axel pushed Roxas out of the room, following behind him. They all took a seat at the kitchen table. Even Zell was there, who had been out and about since they had arrived in Twilight Town. A woman was leaned against the kitchen sink. Her hair was blond and she was about the height of Marluxia. Her eyes were strikingly blue; was it a popular color in the world or something? But what really caught Roxas' attention and shook him up was the fact she was wearing a black cloak. A smirk was on her face as she caught his eyes and something didn't seem right in Roxas' mind.

"Well, this is Larxene. She said she had some information about other worlds, so she may know something about those Lost Souls and what's been going on," began Marluxia.

"Let's just get to the point. Some one is controlling those Souls and it has to be here in Twilight Town or someone very strong if they're on another world," started Larxene. "Why they would want to go after you... I'm not exactly too sure. You must have done something to piss those people off and send those things after you. Any ideas to start with?"

"Well, there is Roxas' dad. He's been after him since...a little after Christmas. We never had problems before then." Axel gave the information willingly, as if she was trustworthy. Roxas glared at Axel, almost to the point of kicking him in the shin, but he held back. Larxene nodded at the given information, but it didn't seem enough to her. "You see, there was a little incident where Roxas threatened his dad, and then after that, we took him away for a while. Then he had SeeD after us, but we got away from that and now we're here."

"Well, the only thing I can say is that you have to do something. If it's possibly this guy you're talking about, your only solution is to get rid of him and see if that was really the problem."

"How can you be so sure about that?" snapped Roxas immediately. "What if he _isn't_ the one doing it? That would mean we murdered him in cold blood with no facts."

"But it would answer that he wasn't the one attacking you with those Souls.." she said coyly. Roxas held in a growl in his throat, his hands clenching into fists. It was almost as if she **wanted **to see him pissed off.

"What if you were saying those things to cover something up?"

"Excuse me?"

"What if you're the one behind this and trying to get all eyes peeled off of you and onto someone more likely to do it?" A hand jerked at his shoulder just as a few shouts rose from the guys around him.

"Roxas!"

"What the hell are you saying?"

"Roxas, this is Larxene you're talking about! We've known her for ages; she isn't the type to be aligned with something like that." Roxas looked back at Axel, shaking his head at his comment.

"People change, Axel. You, of all people, should know that," he hissed, jerking his body from his grasp. With a final glance, he returned to the room and slipped on his shoes. He debated on taking his journal, then settled that he should. He hadn't written anything for a couple of days and it was due for an update.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

_He's an asshole. Axel, I mean. Right now we're in this stupid situation where we don't know who's sending these stupid Lost Souls to attack us, and all he can do is back up this Larxene girl. I mean, she has evil and trickery written all over her! Not only did Axel side with her, but Demyx and Marluxia, too. Zell was the only one who didn't say anything, but he still didn't try and help me out. Were they really oblivious to the fact that she has those beady little eyes that suspicious people always have? Probably not. I'm pretty sure of it._

_Well, I'm done writing about that. It gets depressing and this journal isn't meant for just depressive stuff. It's been about half a year that I've spent with Demyx and Axel, and almost two weeks since we left town and my father behind. But I guess even if we run, it wouldn't keep him there. It's like he knows me too well, where I want to go and what I do. Maybe he's following me secretly and I don't know about it. I wouldn't be surprised-well, maybe a little, but not to the point where I couldn't do anything._

_Right now I just want to curl up into a ball and burn up in flames. If it was possibly, I'd probably do it. Maybe I should go back to that mansion and try and see if Naminé really was there. I could have sworn she was. And those pictures-I want to know more about them and why they looked so much like that Lost Soul that attacked me. Was there a connection between her and those things? Was she the one creating them? Or was it magic? It seems to be happening a lot lately. I mean, different worlds I can handle, but weapons appearing out of no where? It freaked me out. But at least I can defend myself, if I can just get used to the idea of having a weapon. Now that i think about it, I remember dropping it in the mansion, but when I had looked back that day, it had disappeared. It only made me even more confused._

_I shouldn't take too long writing in this. I have other things to do, but I wanted to write some things down in case something happens in it. Maybe it could become useful in the future, you know? I just hope that I live long enough to see the end of this through._

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas sighed and leaned his head against the wall behind him. The Tram Common seemed emptier than it had yesterday. In fact, it he hadn't seen anyone walking around the Tram Common since he had gotten there. Maybe there was something going he didn't know about? He then remembered what Hayner and Pence had told him. "The Struggle Tournament!" he burst out, already on his feet and running toward the area they had passed to get to the Usual Spot.

He couldn't believe his eyes at the crowd in the square. Both kids and adults were there to watch the feature, talking loudly just to be heard over the other people. Roxas found large crowds ridiculous because they always tried to have a louder conversation when they couldn't hear themselves. Glancing around, he wondered if Hayner, Pence and Olette were here. That was when he heard a faint calling of his name.

_"Roxas! Hey, over here!"_ He spun around and saw Olette running toward him, Hayner not far behind and Pence dragging a bit. He jogged the rest of the distance to meet up with them. "Hey, we didn't think you were gonna make it! If you hadn't, then it wouldn't have been any use of signing you up for the tournament."

"What? Who said I wanted to be a part of it?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, you seemed pretty interested, so we all agreed to sign you up! Hayner is participating, too, so you won't be alone," spoke Pence.

"Well, if you say so..." A few minutes had passed and Roxas was eventually called upon to fight his first opponent. He was absolutely nervous-he only had a blue inflated sword and he had to beat the living crap out of his opponent to gain points. But the truth was, he had no experience with weapons. When the whistle sounded for the match to begin, Roxas hesitated. Even if the boy he was facing wore a tall hat that was too large for his head, let alone his body, and had amber eyes flashing out from under it, he didn't know how to react. At the last second, when the short boy lunged forward, Roxas darted to the side and swiped his sword forward as he closed his eyes. He felt the inflatable sword hit and peeked an eye open, seeing the boy on the ground. He felt bad, but he wasn't going to fall for a trick if he was planning it.

Leaping away, Roxas took a hold on the handle with both hands, watching as the boy got up. What was his name now? He hadn't quite caught it when he was called-it had gone through one ear and out the other. _Oh_! It was Vivi. To Roxas, it sounded like a weird name to give a kid, but he couldn't say much. It probably had a meaning, unlike his own name.

While half lost in thought, Roxas had only been paying attention to the fight half-mindedly, dodging attacks and blocking them with his own sword. He got a few hits in, racking up his total points, but was also caught off guard a few times. He won in the end, however, and felt a little bad for the boy. But at least he had put up a good fight.

Before his next round, another one took place to give him a break. This time it was Hayner against a boy he hadn't seen or was introduced to. The fight lasted a little longer than Roxas' had, but Hayner still won.

"Hey, good job, Hayner!"

"Way to go!"

"At this rate, you and Roxas will be the last two in the tournament."

The two boys looked at each and smirked. They were probably right, if Roxas had enough luck to stand in that long. Hayner had looked like he had been practicing all his life to win this tournament. Hopefully it didn't turn into shambles for the boy.

The tournament went on; both Roxas and Hayner battled with two more people, both of them succeeding in victory. A five minute break was in session when Roxas confronted Hayner.

"Hey, may the best man win," he said, holding his hand out. Hayner grinned and shook it, obviously unperturbed of losing.

"Doesn't matter who the better of us is. At least we both made it to the last round; that makes it even enough. So no matter who wins, we know we did our best. You know?" he replied. Then they split ways, heading up to the platform with inflatable sword in hand.

Chocolate brown met sapphire blue, sudden tension flaring between the two. Sweat beaded on Roxas' forehead and trickled down the side of his face as he waited for the whistle. It seemed like the second ticked by slower than anything before he heard the high pitched noise. Instead of waiting like he had with the others, he shot forward. This caught Hayner surprised and off guard. Roxas had switched his strategy because he knew that Hayner had studied him; he saw him eying his fights like a hawk to get the better advantage of him to win.

Hayner collected his wits at the last second and blocked Roxas' offense and darted to the side, taking the opportunity to swipe at him. He got Roxas square in the back, but wasn't able to get away from Roxas' side swipe at his shoulder. The boys battled on, thinking of quick maneuvers that sometimes worked and sometimes failed horribly. Nearing the end of the battle, both boys were panting and sweating more than they ever had during a mild day. Their swords clashed, slid off of each other, and Hayner quickly turned and smacked Roxas square in the stomach before he could retaliate. With that blow, the whistle finally blew and it was over. Hayner had won. Exchanging smiles, the two boys shook hands once more and Hayner was given the prize trophy. Roxas, seeing as it was already five, thought it was better to get back to the house.

"Roxas! Here, take this. You deserve it," said Hayner before he could leave the town square. He held out a small blue jewel which he had taken off of the trophy, and when Roxas didn't take it right away, he tossed it at him. Roxas caught it effortlessly and looked at Hayner. "It was a good fight. I had fun."

Walking back through the Tram Common, Roxas looked at the jewel in his hand. It was the same exact color of his eyes, but maybe shinier and worth more. Was it some kind of friendship thing? Well, one way or another, he planned on keeping the object, whether it was worth munny or not. It would be another memoir along with his journal when this thing was over.

Suddenly, a chill went down Roxas' spine. Letting out a rough breath, a cloud of blue-tinted smoke escaped his mouth and made the boy look around. Why was it so cold? What was happening now? Shoving the jewel in his pocket, Roxas began sprinting-whatever was around, he didn't want to be caught up in it. It was when he was in the train station at Station Heights did it happen. He was abruptly thrust against the wall, his left arm pinned against it by...something. His cerulean eyes looked at the figure in front of him, completely cloaked. The face was shrouded by the darkness the hood provided, making it hard for him to see what it looked like. He glanced to his left, looking at the awkward thing that pinned him where he was.

"N-Naminé?!" stuttered Roxas. The distorted claw was enough to prove it was her. "What are you doing?" She raised her head slightly, enough to reveal a tint of yellow briefly, then her head lifted all the way to cause the hood to fall back. Roxas studied her until her eyes opened, which revealed blue eyes and a friendly face. But the smirk on her face was completely different. It was the light glint in her eye from the sun that ticked off the disguise. Gritting his teeth, Roxas attempted to push her away, but it was useless. It didn't work with her claw holding him where he was.

Suddenly, he thought of the sword that came unbidden. Then it was in his hand. _So.. it comes when I ask for it? When I want it..?_ Roxas thrust the hilt into Naminé's stomach and followed with an elbow in her face. This knocked her clean out of her wits and Roxas took his chance to take a swipe at her. But before his blade could touch her, there was some sort of push that sent him against the wall forcefully and he hit his head **hard**. But it didn't stop him from struggling to his feet. Dozens of Lost Souls now surrounded him, causing his heart to leap in fear. He couldn't even fight one without getting his ass half whooped, how was he going to face more?

But before he could answer his own question, they lunged at him. He swung his blade several times, elbowing one if it happened to latch onto his arm and kicking when one was on his leg. For the most part, he was able to cut a few of them down, but it only seemed like they were multiplying and dragging him to the ground. But it all ceased when he heard footsteps, the Lost Souls quieting when the figure approached. Roxas able to lift his head just enough to see the bottom of a long trench coat and black boots.

"Well.. looks like you're in a bit of a fix, dear boy. Didn't your friend ever tell you not to wander off by yourself?" Roxas' breath caught in his throat, his eyes going wide. He knew it. He simply knew it.

"Larxene, you aren't going to win that easily.." said Roxas, his words slightly muffled. "Are you.. working for my dad or are you just here to torture me?"

She laughed. The same hypnotic devilish laugh he had heard in the mansion. Roxas gritted his teeth and attempted to rise, but the weight the Lost Souls and the blades and spikes against him kept him down.

"I'm merely here for your sake. It's foolish of you to do what you do. You're only a boy, who doesn't understand life at all. You don't know the thrills of doing illegal things. You don't know how wonderful it feels to break rules, to pass by the law so easily with a few tricks and sly words. You don't know _anything_ about living," she hissed in a glorified voice.

_"Roxas!"_

Larxene turned to face the entrance of the train station, hearing the echo of a familiar boy. Rolling her eyes, she looked back down at the pathetic being she had been wishing to kill only seconds after a small speech. But apparently it would be put on hold yet again. "And here comes your cavalry. Pathetic..."

"Roxas!" He was barely aware that Axel was already near him, the Lost Souls gone. He could have sworn they were still there and Larxene-

"Larxene was here! She's trying to kill me, I swear it! She's the one controlling the Lost Souls," Roxas said in a rush when Axel lifted him from the ground.

"Calm down. Larxene left the house a little bit ago to help look for you. I thought I'd try around the area the Struggle Tournament was being held or that one place you were at before." Axel held a hand to the boy's forehead, but it was nothing but a light sweat and a little heat. "What were you doing? You were practically passed out a second ago; I thought maybe you were dead or something."

"I _was_ attacked! By Larxene! I **swear** to you."

"Ok, you need to rest. You probably overworked yourself at whatever you were doing." Axel lifted him up easily, then paused. "Were you in the Struggle Tournament?" Roxas nodded slowly, his eyebrows furrowing. "Did you win?"

"No, but I was close. Hayner and I were the last ones. He beat me by a couple of points, but I don't care," he offered, relaxing in Axel's arms. He then started back for Sunset Terrace, where Marluxia and Demyx sat waiting.

* * *

Mmmmm...sweet dreams to AkuRoku fluff. lol I've also been getting ideas for a try at a normal story for these two sometime in the near future, but I also might wait until I finish this fanfic to start it, so I won't get sidetracked. It would most likely get hard for me to do two stories at once and keep my mind straight! lol Remember, review to your heart's content! Don't be afraid to ask questions and request stuff to happen. I'll be sure to try and work it into the story if it fits. -luffs- 


	21. Separation

AN: Yes, a day went by. I know. I try my best to crank one out per day, but now that I work again (you know, a real job) I was exhausted yesterday. But I was able to get some stuff down and finish it today! Anywho, good news: I don't work again until Thursday, so I have time to put out at least 3 chapters if not more (**_IF_** I feel in the mood. Which I most likely will be able to give you guys). A new scenery and some new characters are introduced. Enjoy. :

* * *

_"Axel.."_

_"Hmm?"_

_"Do you think we could.. y'know, go to Destiny Isle?"_

_"Destiny Isle? You mean Destiny Islands, right?"_

_"Uh.. y-yeah..."_

_"Maybe... Why?"_

_"I heard that it was a beautiful place.."_

_"Oh. Well.. We could squeeze it in soon. That is, if you're still up for traveling."_

_"I want to go there."_

_"Ok, then. We'll go."_

Roxas lay half curled in the bed next to Axel, hugging the pillow to his chest. He couldn't sleep, too afraid that Larxene would appear. It was enough that he knew the truth, so he had to look out for everyone. He had tried to find some comfort from Axel so he could rest peacefully, but it wasn't enough and the redhead had fallen asleep not long after they stopped talking. So now he was left with nothing to do but lay there until sleep overtook him. Then it hit him-he needed to use the bathroom. At least it gave him something to do rather than lay in a bed restless and wide awake.

He crawled out of the bed and stepped into the living room, rustling a hand through his hair. It seemed oddly quiet and a little darker than usual, giving him a creepy feeling, but he tried to push it aside as he went to the bathroom. It occurred to him while in there that the television wasn't even on. Demyx usually left it on while he was trying to go to sleep and it stayed on until Marluxia got up to bother with it. In fact, he hadn't seen Marluxia since Axel brought him home, nor Larxene. Demyx had filled in that she went looking for him (and by god, she had found him), but never returned. Then fed him with Marluxia's absence and said he had to visit the store for groceries and would keep an eye out for him.

Flushing and washing his hands, Roxas exited the bathroom and glanced toward the couch. Demyx wasn't there. Furrowing his eyebrows, he continued to sweep the house. What were with the disappearances? Zell wasn't even here, either. With a rough swallow, the boy hurried back to the room, shut the door and locked it, then slipped back into the bed. He let out a shaky breath, noticing that he was starting to shake lightly from his paranoia. But it wasn't long before he noticed the bed seemed cold and empty save for himself. His sapphire orbs glanced beside him, and sure enough, Axel was missing.

"A-Axel?"

"Is dear, poor Roxas feeling so cold and all.. alone?" Roxas jerked his head toward the source of the voice, his hands gripping the sheets. "Well, if I can't kill you, then I'll just send you to a place where that would happen. The best part is.. your friends will be joining you! And possibly will be dealt with before you get your turn."

Roxas leaped out of his bed, but was cut short of his actions when a black portal appeared near the bedroom door. A dim light resonated through the room at Larxene's will, uncovering the hiding spot of Demyx and Axel. They were bound, ankles and wrists, and the typical white clothed gag. The boy glared toward Larxene, taking a step forward. But Larxene waggled a finger at him, making him pause.

"I don't care! I'm tired of you lurking around and twisting everyone to believe you're the innocent one. I know what you do. Naminé would never act the way she did, because you were the one controlling her-like a puppet. Olette, Hayner and Pence told me how she was before she went missing."

"Oh my, my secret was revealed. What ever shall I do?" she said in a light sweet voice. The back of her left hand was flipped upon her forehead in sarcastic display, faking a sad face. It then broke with a smirk and a glimmer appeared between her fingers. In a flash, four thin, sharp objects came flying toward Roxas. And all four of them were knocked aside. "Of course, you resorting to that keyblade of yours. Anyone could have guessed." Roxas gasped when he felt something sharp run along his neck, her voice now too close for comfort. "Anyone who truly knew what you held inside of you.."

Roxas gritted his teeth and slashed his sword as he turned. But she was already gone. "Say goodbye to your friends, Roxas. They're the first to go. Too bad you couldn't have seen that one boy's face before he was pushed through." His cerulean gaze leaped to the portal, where Larxene pushed Axel through. Demyx was already gone.

"No!" He rushed forward, intent on running through the darkness, but he found himself on the ground with an aching back. His hand tightened, but instead of finding the handle of the keyblade, he grasped air. Larxene was now towering over him, straddling his waist with a wicked grin on her face. One of those needles were in between her fingers threateningly. Her hand then darted toward his chest, but instead of hitting it, it appeared beside his head in the wooden floor. A hiss of regret blew through the girl's mouth, glaring hatred down at him.

"I wish I could kill you. I would enjoy more than anyone would. But now that _he_ knows I found you, I can't do that," she said quietly. Abruptly, Larxene's body was jerked from Roxas and then he was pulled to his feet. He expected that Axel or Demyx, possibly even Zell to be there miraculously. But it was none other than Marluxia. His hair was a mess-messier than usual, that is-and blood was running down the side of his face and just a smidgen in the corner of his mouth. His left arm hung limply by his side, as if broken or out of socket. What had happened to him?

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Roxas. I had a feeling she was up to nothing, being gone all the time, but I couldn't bring myself to believe it. I.. kinda fell in love with her, over time." Roxas stared at him, taken aback. Fell in love with a killer like her? "She wasn't always like this. She was just as sweet as a five year old girl. But after everyone went their separate ways, they we all changed."

"Quit being sentimental. It was your fault for wasting your emotions. It was your fault to protect them in the first place," Larxene hissed. Three of her kunais flew through the air at Marluxia, barely catching him. Roxas noticed a trickle of blood on his neck. But Marluxia didn't seem to care. Instead, he reached his arm behind him, toward the portal, and a light emerged from it before it returned normal.

"Go there, Roxas. Seek help-there are plenty of people who will side with you. Look for a boy named Sora to help you with that keyblade," said Marluxia. Larxene was advancing on them and he hadn't budged an inch. Roxas was intent on staying to fight with him. Turning angrily at the kid, Marluxia muttered something and hit him in the head with something. As Roxas was about to speak, his vision became blurry, and before he lost all sight, he could have sworn Marluxia was holding a scythe.

Throwing Roxas through the portal, he touched it again and it began to shrink. "No!" screeched Larxene, her hand clasping Marluxia's shirt to push him away and get to the portal. But he had her by the throat, a small smile on his face. "Let go of me."

"I'm sorry, Larxene..."

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas twitched, barely able to feel a thing in his whole body. He rose a hand to his face, but then pained erupted in his head like a volcano. "Nng.." he muttered from the pain. He didn't dare take the chance to move his body any more than he already had.

_"Hey, I think he's awake. Look, he just moved!"_ A girl's voice. A rather hyper high pitched one. _"Cloud, get over here! He's awake!! Or better yet, get Aeris. She'll be able to help him. He looks kinda hurt."_

"Where am I..?" he muttered, cracking an eye open hesitantly. Instead of seeing a bright sun or light shining in his face, the room he was in was rather dim. Roxas began to push himself up, but he found he couldn't.

"No you don't, boy. I had direct orders to keep you in bed until Aeris gets here. You're pretty banged up and that bump on your head seems like a melon!" Roxas looked around with his one eye until he spotted a girl. Her hair was short and black, a headband tied around her head, and her eyes were a chocolate brown. "I am the great ninja Yuffie! No doubt about it."

"Ninja..?" Roxas let out a sigh and closed his eye again. Awkward.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

_"Well, I did the best I could. He looks fine now. But that bump will have to disappear on its own."_

_"At least it doesn't look like a melon anymore.."_

_"Where did he come from anyway?_

_"Not sure. Leon found him in the Marketplace, unconscious."_

_"You know.. we could alway ask.."_

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas sat up with a jolt when he woke this time. His cerulean orbs looked around the room, but no one was here this time. He heard names, but he couldn't remember any of them. But there were three different voices.

"Glad you joined the living, lad. I was afraid that bump on your head might have put you in a coma!" Roxas glanced to his right, where a man with a long white beard and blue robes stood.

"Ah!" he yelped before he could contain it, scrambling away until he fell on the floor. Surprises weren't his thing. "W-who are you?"

"I'm Merlin. You should be lucky Leon found you when he did! By god, you were a mess. And you can thank Aeris for fixing you up," the old man said. Roxas stumbled to his feet.

"Where am I..?"

"Radiant Garden. It was formerly known as Hollow Bastion, but that was before Sora helped-"

Roxas' memory rushed back to him from before. Marluxia had pushed him through the portal after telling him about someone. About Sora. Find him and have him help with his keyblade?

"Sora? Where can I find him?! I need to talk to him!" he shouted. Merlin held a finger to his mouth, shaggy white eyebrows furrowed.

"No need to yell child. Lucky you, he's visiting everyone here. In fact, he should be heading over here soon." As if on cue, the door opened and Roxas jerked his head in the direction of it. A male, about five and a half foot with spiky blond hair stepped through the door. Before he could utter the name, Merlin spoke. "My, you check in frequently.

"I see he's awake.. Aeris wanted me to keep checking in on him." At that moment, a head popped up behind Cloud. The boy had brown spiked hair, his eyes the same swirls of blue as Roxas' and a goofy grin on his face.

"Sora.."

* * *

Uh oh! They're separated. hehe x3 I always planned to get them separated, and I'm glad I found a way to (though I'm not sure if it's confusing or not.. or even relevant. But I think it fits! So tough!) There are a lot of new charries here Yuffie, Merlin, Cloud, Leon, Aeris, Sora Where are Axel, Demyx and Zell? You'll find out soon! Also, along with a new scenery and characters (there are still a couple unnamed, but will be mentioned in the next) there are enemies, too. Well... wait -checks papers- one enemy. I'm saving a couple for the next world. : Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Already working on next chappy. -luff-

**Please review, readers. It makes me feel happy. x3**

_Thank you Faye for reviewing a lot! I love the fact I have a dedicated reader and fan. I'll be sure to let you in on the next story I'm planning on soon. -Much luff-_

_ **Moonie. x  
**_


	22. Almost But Not Quite

AN: Hah, see? Another chapter already. To tell you all the truth, the end of the story isn't that far ahead. But there's still a couple chapters left! So don't go moping yet. : Enjoyyyyy.

* * *

At the sight of Sora, Roxas took a few steps toward him, but maybe he went too quickly. Cloud had drawn his sword and the tip of it was only a few centimeters away from his throat. Roxas paused immediately, his face turning a shade of pink. His eyes were glued to the sword; it was large, wrapped in bandages, and seemed lethal enough. It was a miracle he hadn't fainted with all that blood rushing to his head.

"Cloud! Put away the ruthless sword," spoke Merlin. Cloud obeyed, but not until after he stared at the boy in warning. Sora was now fully in the room. Not _only_ him, but two others that had slipped and stood behind him. One was a boy with silver hair to his shoulders, leaning against the wall with one foot propped up and his arms crossed over his chest. The other was a girl with auburn hair, also to her shoulders if not a little longer, and blue eyes. She wore an outfit that seemed as if she had just gotten out of school, which seemed odd. He wouldn't wear a school uniform out of school.

Shaking his head, Roxas took a step forward. "Sora, look. I was told that I needed to find you so you could help me with this weapon I have. It's called a keyblade." At the end of his sentence, there was nothing but an eerie silence. Roxas glanced about and saw that everyone was staring at him in either shock, disbelief, or-in Cloud's case, as if he was stupid.

"I'm sorry. I can't help you with that.." murmured Sora.

"Why not? You have to! I need-"

"I said no. I'm sorry, but you'll have to manage that one on your own." Sora shook his head as he said it, his eyebrows furrowing. He didn't want to seem so heartless and cold, but he couldn't possibly have a keyblade. His cerulean eyes followed Roxas as he slowly stepped forward, face to the floor, until he crashed to his knees just in front of him. His right hand was encased in both of the boy's hands tightly, as if he was his last hope.

"Sora. I know you don't know me. I don't even know anything about you except your name. And possibly a person who could help me. I need to learn about it so I can help my friends..." he muttered, almost in a whisper. Even tears had welled up in his eyes and began falling to the floor every time he blinked.

"...Ok." So maybe he does have a reason. Perhaps he does have a keyblade. It was worth a shot. What harm could it do? When someone begged with all his heart and even cried, Sora couldn't turn them away. It meant that the person was telling the truth and desperately needed something to hold on to until he could stand on his own. Maybe this was it. "Later this afternoon, we'll meet up in the baily. Just head east when you step out of the door, up the stairs and it should be all the way to your right." The girl grabbed on to Sora's wrist tugging lightly.

"Come on, Sora. Huey, Dewey, and Louie were gonna show us some of their new tricks today." With another goofy grin toward Roxas, he slipped his hand out and headed out the door with his friends. "Sora, Riku, would you stop trying to compete? You two always do this!"

Roxas listened to the fading words, still sitting on the ground. At least he had agreed to help him. But what was there to do now?

"So where are you from, boy? You certainly aren't from around here." Roxas looked up to the sound of Merlin's voice. Cloud had already disappeared out of the door, leaving it open. Merlin closed it quietly as the boy stood and sat himself on the edge of the bed.

"A little town called Zorbinth. You know, where everyone knows everyone else. That sort of thing." Roxas shrugged lightly.

Merlin nodded and tapped a finger on his chin. Interesting. "What's your story?" Roxas blinked at the old man, unsure.

"I... don't have a complete story. I just want to help my friends and get rid of my father. I..." Roxas drifted off of his words, thinking. All that happened ever since he left home, left his town, was the same over and over again. Pain, suffering, fear, restlessness, murder, mystery. He didn't want anymore of it. He was finished. "I'm tired of running. I'm going to save my friends and confront my dad. I just have to find out where they went..." Roxas turned completely around until he was facing the old wizard. "Maybe you'd know! Larxene, this girl that was after me, she made this big black portal appear. I couldn't see much, but it was really dark."

Merlin thought momentarily, shuffling around his room as he did. Big black portal, dark... "The World That Never Was." Just then, the door opened and a woman walked in. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a large braid with a pink ribbon at the top. A matching pink dress was what she wore, with a blue belt tied loosely around her waist, and brown boots to complete it. She also wore a choker and several metal bracelets on her left wrist.

"You must be Roxas. I'm Aeris," she said politely, looking at him. He locked on to her turquoise eyes. She was the one who had healed him and made him much better.

"T-thanks for helping me. I owe everyone here."

"No, we do it because we want to, silly. No one owes anything!" She took a seat beside Roxas on the bed, and he finally noticed she had something with her. A small box. "Here, I brought you a little something to eat. Leon said you might be hungry, so it's actually his idea." Roxas took the box, opened it, and began eating right away. They were right, he was practically starving and he hadn't thought to ask. It seemed rude.

Moments later, Roxas finished his food while Aeris and Merlin talked. Maybe he should take a walk around the place and get to know it better. If he was going to stay here and have Sora help him, then he might as well know what he's getting into. Sliding off of the bed, he exited the house and looked around. Remembering the directions Sora had told him, Roxas started to his right and spotted the stairs after a couple of stairs. He wasn't sure why the place had to have such high walls on the inside when they had them on the outer areas. It seemed senseless.

Roxas emerged at the top of the stairs and looked to his right. Sure enough, there was an opening that led straight into the bailey. But before he ventured inside, he peeked over the edge of the wall ahead of him. He let out a gasp when he saw what was below. It was like a battle had erupted down there, leaving nearly everything in shambles. A path led all the way down and through a large gate, disappeared into a crumbling ravine, then further where it seemed like crystals were growing there. After that, a large gap in the land-perhaps where the biggest battle had taken place. Now he understood why they preferred larger walls.

Slipping away from the edge, he shoved his hands into his jeans. Once the bailey, the place seemed a little gloomier. There was an opening to his left, almost like a window but without the glass. Ahead to his right was an opening which, once he looked, led to two different places once below. He guessed one was to the large battleground he had seen moments before.

"I see you found the bailey without a problem." Roxas turned around to see Sora, that same awkward goofy grin plastered on his face. A light flashed briefly before a keyblade was in his hand, a _different_ looking keyblade. "This is the Ultima keyblade. I worked hard to get this thing and I haven't used it since.. along time ago. But if you really need help to use your own to save your friends, then I'll be glad to help." In the spare moment it appeared, Roxas felt the cool grip of a handle in his own hand. "Oblivion.."

At once, Roxas saw the keyblade flying toward him and he instantly dodged to his right. He let out a breath of air when he hit the wall, looking at the boy as if he was crazy. "In the middle of a battle, sometimes things get thrown at you. If you can be light and agile enough, you can dodge a lot of these." Getting to his feet, Roxas gripped the handle in both hands and started forward. When he was close, he raised Oblivion above his head and pulled it down, but only for it to be stopped by Ultima. Sora pushed hard against his blade and sent Roxas stumbling backward. "Never run straight for an opponent unless you know you can hit them or you know all of their attacks. This gives you the upper hand and won't have any surprises waiting."

During the next few minutes, the boys exchanged slashes and hits. Neither would harm his opponent, but Sora was held his weapon for a few seconds and explained his faults when he had Roxas pinned as dead. Although it flustered Roxas, he paid attention and kept his faults in his mind. He needed to break those. The training sustained for a while longer, the sun lowering in the sky with time. When it hit the horizon, Sora stopped and both boys caught their breaths.

"We're done for today. You did good... and you're learning pretty quickly. Just remember.. to work on those things I told you about."

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas woke with a yawn and sat up, rubbing the back of his hand across his eyes. Glancing around, he remembered he was still in Radiant Garden, still sleeping in Merlin's house. And he missed Axel more than ever. It was eating at him for the past couple of days, how he couldn't see him or hear him. They weren't even here to save him if he got into trouble. That was probably the thing he missed the most. With a sigh, he pushed it away for the dozenth time that week and hopped out of bed. Sora had wanted to train early today.

After taking his shower and donning a pair of white loose nylon pants and a matching plain white shirt, he rushed out of the door and to the bailey. Sora was already there, a small container set off to the side. Probably food after they were done training. "You ready?" Roxas nodded and called for his keyblade, which came easily now. At once, the two boys clashed. Sora spun around and tried for a low sweep, but Roxas moved and stopped the blade quickly. He had gotten better at defense as well as offense, better at reading his enemy better.

Within time, Sora had Roxas kneeling on the ground, his blade on the side of his neck as he stood behind him. Another victory for him. Roxas was nearly out of breath and sweating more than when he was at the Struggle Tournament. If only he had a second sword, then he could pin Sora to the point where he couldn't do a damn thing. His empty hand squeezed into a fist, willing another to appear. And it did. This blade seemed the opposite of Oblivion, a delicate white with intricate patterns around it. He glanced behind him at Sora's face, which seemed shocked. Taking his opportunity, Roxas swept the new blade against his legs, sending Sora crashing to the ground on his back. When the boy looked up from his place on the ground, Oblivion was in his face and the other keyblade between his knees. A smirk eventually found it's way onto Sora's mouth.

"You win. And you're done." Roxas let him up, then let his keyblades disappear along with Sora's. "That was the Oathkeeper. Seeing you having a light and a dark weapon tells me you're something special, Roxas. I know you can help your friends with both of them and your skills." Heading to the box he had brought earlier, he pulled out two of something.. something familiar.

"No way! You have Sea Salt Ice Cream here?" blurted Roxas, taking the one Sora held out.

"Of course! Scrooge was the one who made it perfect around here." Roxas indulged himself on the treat. It was something different and he was glad Sora brought it. "Well, I'll see you around. I promised Kairi and Riku I'd spend most of today with them again. We're going back home tomorrow."

"Thanks. For your help and everything," said Roxas. Once he was out of sight, Roxas glanced around curiously. He had tried to make himself go down the northern path, but never was brave enough. Well, today was the day. He already accomplished beating Sora, had his favorite treat. Now he needed to complete his goals. Quickly heading down the path to the ground below, Roxas began heading north up the path and through the Restoration Site. Clues of fights and struggles showed themselves on the way through, making Roxas seem a bit nervous. Hopefully nothing popped out of no where.

Near the end, the Restoration Site opened up to a large area. A sign to his left dubbed it the Postern. However, before could fully step out, he heard a pair of voices.

_"...have nothing to do with this. Leave them be. It's always been between the two of us."_

Cloud's voice. What was he doing here? Who was he talking to? A low laugh made its way to Roxas.

_"It doesn't matter. Once you're gone, this place will burn into flames. That woman you cherish so much will be the first to go."_

_"You won't touch Aeris."_

Roxas then heard the clash of swords and he peeked around the corner. Cloud was on the far right, his blade in hand and a rather mean look on his face. The other man had long silver hair and wore what seemed like layers of black. In his hand was a sword that looked five feet or longer. Instead of rushing out to help Cloud, Roxas stayed where he was. The battle was too intense and it seemed too personaly to intervene. Plus he would have been straight out crazy to run into something like that.

Tense after tense minute, the two fought viciously. Cloud dealt plenty of wounds to the other man, but he didn't falter once. However, Cloud was beginning to lack a little. He could tell because his attacks didn't seem so rough or strong. There was a moment where Roxas actually thought that he was going to be killed, but a new type of spirit rose in Cloud and was able to retaliate strongly. But time found Cloud sitting against the wall not far from the blond boy, his head hanging and his breath coming in ragged gasps. Even his sword was at a short distance from him; if he had the energy and time to lunge for it, he would have. The silver haired man stood before him, blade pointed at his torso.

"The worst part of this is that you don't fight like you used to. You're pathetic and weak. Soft. You don't belong in this world." Roxas caught a glimmer of light before he knew what was going to happen. And out of the blue, he ran out from his cover and between Cloud and his enemy in a feeble attempt to stop the attack. A slice of pain went through him, extended through his limbs and hit him harder than a hammer. A slight cough forced its way from his mouth. In that moment, with the silver haired man slightly stunned, Cloud leaped for his blade and shoved it through the man's stomach.

"Sephiroth, you're threats end here." A grin emerged on Sephiroth's face, as if to say it had barely begun, then he disappeared, his sword along with it, leaving behind a single black feather.

Cloud looked back at Roxas, who was now doubled over on the ground. Blood was already dripping heavily onto the stone floor and he could tell the boy was shaking with the effort to keep himself propped up. "Stupid kid," he spat, gathering him up. That was the last thing Roxas could remember before his vision failed him.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

_"It's been a week. The brat hasn't showed up. Is it really necessary to keep them around like this?"_

_"Of course. When he makes it here, and sees they're still alive, then he'll try to find the person behind all of it. That is when you kill them off and leave Roxas to come for me. I've been waiting ever so patiently and I don't want my plans to go to waste. Just hold onto them a little longer and don't forget to keep care of them. If they seem too dead or uncared for, Roxas might not stick around."_

_Silence permeated in the large room. Amber eyes fell upon the man who had entered the room moments before, wondering if he understood the instruction he had given._

_"Yes...sir.."_

_Soon. Soon he would be here. Soon, he could get rid of him and claim what was rightfully his._

* * *

Bzzzzzzzz. Uh oh. Roxas got himself in a fix again. Curse that boy for being a magnet for bloody trouble! shakes fist Anywho, yes, a character is waiting for Roxy. enter dramatic music here /cough Remember, the review option is your best friend and will make this writer very happy. Pwease review? angelic chibi eyes

_**Moonie. -luff-**_


	23. Suffering of the Heart

AN: Nya 'Ello, jellos! heehee Um, yeah I had work today. Had a really **bad** day at work today. Then I had an even worse day just about an hour or so ago because of the admin of his roleplay site my friend wanted me on. It was lame because they wouldn't accept my characters simply because I color coded my character profile. Laaaaame... I probably won't stick around because that just shows how icky picky the admin is.

Anywho, enough venting. I'm done with it. Here's the next chappy. There's 3 more enemies left. gasp Yes. And one is revealed during battle and one at the end.

_Faye_: Yes! It will be revealed. Very soon. Possibly after-the-next-chapter material. :3 Sadly to say, this story only has about 3-4 chapters left in it! So I can't wait to type up the last one because I want to see reactions.

* * *

_'What happened? Where am I? I couldn't have...died..?'_

_Those were the thoughts that crossed his mind as he lay there, unable to open his eyes. Or maybe they were open, but he could only see a void of black. Either way, it didn't feel like he was in a bed, or in the arms of a caring friend or his mother. It wasn't even Axel, Demyx or Zell. It was...nothing. And cold. Why? Why was it so cold? Roxas wished he had a blanket, or better yet, a heater. This was ridiculous. It was too black, too quiet, too cold, too lonely-too many things he didn't like._

_"You can't give up yet.."_

_Was that Axel's voice? No, it didn't sound like him. It sounded like a girl. But who's voice? He didn't recognize it._

_"Don't just sit lay there. People are.."_

_What?_

_"You're not finished yet. Not..quite yet.."_

_Roxas suddenly shielded his eyes with his hand from the sudden light that hit his eyelids. What was this? Warmth? And something gritty beneath his body. Where was he now? Gingerly, he sat up and let his arm move from his face. His eyes squinted momentarily before they got used to the sunlight. But the sight-he didn't expect it. He was on a beach, the sand full of heat below his hands. A vast body of water, as blue as his own eyes, probably deeper, was before him. Was this..?_

_"Sorry, kid."_

_Roxas glanced around. "Ax..el..?" He was there, but barely visible. Suddenly, his vision blurred and when he blinked to clear his vision, Axel was no more. A hallucination? "Wait.. no. Come back." He scrambled to his feet, reaching out a hand uselessly as if it could magically bring him back._

_"When we said we'd take care of you.. we meant it." Demyx? Roxas whirled around to face the backside of him. He seemed fragile, his arms hugging himself and his head hung. He could only imagine, but Roxas knew he had a broken look on his face. But why would he?_

_A noise pierced through his mind, making him stumble and fall to his knees. 'What's happening?' His fingers buried themselves in the sand as he looked up, seeing that Demyx had disappeared as well. Where were they going? Why weren't they staying with him?_

_"You're a good boy, Roxas, and really strong. But you can't always do things on your own!" Zell. Roxas didn't even bother to look this time. It would end the same way, with him disappearing. A hand descended on his shoulder, the ever familiar feeling. His fingers loosened in the sand as Roxas blinked back tears, his heart skipping a beat with hope._

_"Come on, kid. Don't go moping around. You've got better things to do!" He knew it. Roxas clasped onto the arm with his left hand, taking a slow breath to calm himself. But he couldn't contain it. Without a second thought, his hands clambered up the arm to pull himself around, then wrapped them roughly around the thin frame of Axel's waist. Roxas couldn't help the overflow of tears that finally fought their way out, but he didn't care. It felt like ages since he had seen Axel. "Remember what I said?"_

_"W-what..?"_

_"The promise I made. Remember it?" When the boy failed to respond, Axel rested his hand on his head and applied a little pressure as he tussled with his hair. "I promised we'd be there for you, to the end. But we can't do that if you just lay around and mope. You gotta get up and be active. People don't wait on miracles to happen by wishing on a star, or by breaking a wishbone... people make those miracles happen because they want it so bad, they pursue it. I admit, it doesn't always work in the end for everyone. But hard work pays of eventually, and it's always worth a shot."_

_Both the noise and the blurry vision attacked him this time, but his hold on Axel's waist was tighter than before, just like a fat kid holding fast to his chocolate cake. This time, Axel didn't leave him. Was it real now? Were they together for good. Hopefully so. He didn't want to be separated again. That was when Axel's hand loosened on his head and eventually lifted. He lifted his teary sapphire orbs to look him in the face; that little smirk he had gotten used to not long after they took him in was plastered there. Comforting._

_"Look at that. I tried to be smart. That's more of Demyx's thing than it is mine. But you know what I mean. Right now, we might not be with you physically, but we're with you spiritually, and in your heart. Just don't..take too long, ok?" What? Was he leaving? No! Roxas' fingers began slipping through the shirt and he tried to cling desperately._

_"N-no, you can't leave. Don't leave me right now. I need you!" he stammered, falling forward and catching himself with his hands._

_"Then find me. Find both of us."_

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas jerked his head up as his fingers clung to the sheets of the bed, coughing horribly. A hand was on his shoulder at once, helping him turn onto his side and breath better. But he was quickly pushed onto his back again. His stomach hurt, as well as his head, legs, feet, everything. He looked to the right side of the bed, seeing Aeris. Behind her was Cloud, Merlin and probably Leon. To his right was Sora, Kairi, Riku, Yuffie and a girl he hadn't quite met yet. With a sigh, he let his head drop back onto the pillow-that was a mistake. Pain shot through his body immediately, in which Aeris placed a hand lightly on his stomach.

"Just relax. You almost died. If it wasn't for Cloud being so quick in carrying you to town, you probably would have lost too much blood. There wasn't any serious internal damage, so I tried healing you as much as I could before letting you rest. There were a few times you woke up, muttering nonsense, but you fell asleep not long after that. How are you feeling right now, other than in pain."

Lost, lonely, hurt, sad, angry, disappointed; those were only a few of what he wanted to say. But he chose not to. "Ok, I guess... How long have I been out?"

"Three days. Not literally, since you kept waking up randomly. But we didn't count those because you were out of it," mumbled Riku, leaning against the wall like usual.

"Then why are you guys still here?! Weren't you supposed to go home?"

"Yeah, right! Not after that stunt you pulled. We were too worried," exclaimed Sora.

"Well, I can't stay here too long. I have to go to The World That Never Was. I have to rescue my friends. They need me."

"After resting, Roxas. Just.. one more day," said Aeris.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Searing heat penetrated through the bar before it finally fell into Axel's hand. He placed it on the floor with the dozens of other bars and began working on the next one. He was almost done and the hole was almost big enough for him to fit through it he crouched. He had been working on it for the past hour and a half; it wasn't easy, seeing as using it nonstop took a lot of energy out of him. Plus, if Roxas really did come to help them, he wouldn't have to go through so much trouble to find a way to get them out. As the last bar fell into his hand, he hurried through the hole and stood up. Man did his back hurt like hell.

Now to find Demyx and Zell. That is, if either of them survived this long. He lost count of how long they had been there, but it seemed too long. Roxas **would** come to rescue them, he had a feeling. But the back of his mind couldn't help but try and convince him that Larxene had succeeded in getting rid of the boy for good. _No, that type of thinking won't do. He's still alive out there and trying to get here. I know it.._

A pink light flashed by his head, making Axel pause in his tracks. What was that? Looking behind him at the ground, a small hole was indented with a tendril of smoke rising from it. Was someone shooting at him? Another shot, but this time on the opposite side. What the hell!

"Axel, Axel, Axel. You were supposed to stay in your cell. What are you doing?" That voice. Why were they popping up so suddenly? "You know, since you escaped, he'll probably say to kill you. I really don't want to do it, so I'll ask you just once to follow me while I lead you to a different cell. You really damaged the last one."

"Eat grass, Xigbar. I don't know what you're thinking sticking around this place, but there's no way in hell I'm staying in a stupid cell while I have things to do," he growled. His chakrams appeared in his hands, his emerald colored eyes seeking out the body of the voice.

"Too bad. I was hoping you'd stick around and see the good side of life here." Behind him. Axel swirled around to meet the man face to face. And man, had he changed. Especially with that big ugly scar down his face and the eye patch with long gray and black hair. The redhead rose an eyebrow.

"Um.. so is this like, the pirate party? Because I so forgot my Jack Sparrow outfit. It would have been perfect," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He then lunged forward with his chakrams. But Xigbar was too quick, leaping away before he could even leave a scratch. Xigbar lifted a hand with his shooter in it, aiming for Axel's chest and letting off several rounds. Smoke choked the air, leaving both in a blinded state. Or so it seemed.

A fireball flew through the air in the area Xigbar's head should have been, but it just whistled through the smoke uselessly and hit a wall. "Too slow, Axel. You might be able to dodge, but you can't keep it up forever."

"Probably longer than your sorry ass," he gritted.

Axel rose his chakrams, spinning them around each index finger as bullets were sent his way. They ricocheted in several different directions; however, one had passed the barrier and skimmed his cheek. Glaring at his old friend, he rose his chakrams and sent them flying toward him. One sliced his side, but Xigbar sent the other one flying to the side. In a fit of frustration, Axel began sending arrows of flame toward his opponent as Xigbar progressed in his direction. This was ridiculous. The fight hadn't even gone over five minutes and he was bored with it; no not bored, **tired** of it. He had other things he needed to do. A plan quickly sprung into his mind.

The next shot taken at him, Axel's eyes widened in surprised and he jerked backward, stumbling until he fell backward onto the floor. And, geeze, did that hurt. Xigbar stopped at the end of Axel's feet, looking at him with his gun poised toward him. A stupid smug grin was plastered on his face, wrinkling the old scar on his face slightly. Seriously, what was with that eye patch and hairdo? It wasn't exactly good looking.

"Looks like your time is up. Sadly, you couldn't even last ten minutes in a fight. Not now, and not back then. You were too weak, and as much as you said you could do it, you couldn't kill a damn living thing," he drawled. Axel glared at him, gritting his teeth. Man, was he full of it. His ego seemed to have inflated larger than an elephant during the past years. Sad. A smirk slipped across Axel's mouth.

"Maybe weak, but not stupid." Slipping onto his elbows, he slid himself toward Xigbar and kicked him right in the knees. Xigbar let out a cry of pain, his knees buckling before he eventually fell forward, like Axel had hoped. Catching him by the chest, the redhead held him up while one of his chakrams materialized in his free hand aflame. "Not killing anything back then proved I had a heart, bastard. Sadly, this won't effect that. I think you lost yours a long time ago," he spat, then shoved his chakram into Xigbar's stomach.

A smile was on Xigbar's mouth. Why? Wasn't he supposed to be dead? "Better take care of that kid. He's gonna need it.." Axel blinked at his words, confused. Before he could actually ask a question, he began to dematerialize, right in front of him, into tendrils of black smoke. What were they planning to do to Roxas? What was his importance to them? ** What the **_**hell**_** was going on?**

Suddenly, Axel was drenched in water. Picking a strand of crimson hair from his face, he turned around to see Demyx standing only seven feet away. A deadpan look was on his face. "What? You seemed pissed off, y'know, with all that fire and stuff all over you. It creeped me out," he said with a goofy grin.

"Whatever. Have you run across Zell?"

"Yeah, actually he's-"

"God, get them off me! I can't kill a damned one!" As if on cue, Zell ran onto the scene. Despite his quickness and sharp yelling, he seemed pretty beat up. Only.. slightly. Trailing behind him was a small group of Lost Souls. Glancing at Demyx, he summoned his chakrams, flames licking every inch of the weapons, and threw them. Demyx had acquired a sitar out of no where, and just as he played a few strings, water elementals appeared and followed the chakrams to the Lost Souls. In second, they were all wiped out and left a clear way up the slope.

"We might as well head up and look around. Maybe we can find a way out of here," said Axel. He started forward, catching his chakrams as they came back toward him. Demyx and Zell followed closely. However, Axel's mind was still tainted with what Xigbar had said. What did they want with Roxas?

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas stared at the dark portal from his seat on the floor. He had been positioned there for nearly twenty minutes now, pondering his decision. He felt perfectly fine with a few pains here and there, but Aeris had done a good job on healing. So why was he hesitating? They needed him, probably now more than ever. He had waited more than a week after they were sent to that world. Were they still alive? Were they doing ok? He thought back to his encounter with Sora and his thoughtful words.

_"Roxas."_

_"I..I know. I'm in no condition to go. But I have a feeling they're in trouble. Please, just let me go," he practically begged. The vision of him on that beach, of hugging Axel so close, was still fresh in his mind. He didn't want to be alone anymore, and if he wanted to fix that, he had to find him. "You know what it feels like to finally find something you've been wanting for so long? How it just fills up that empty space inside of you? Think of that.. and then think of how it would feel if it was literally ripped from inside of you. It would hurt, wouldn't it? Well, it feels like I have this huge gaping hole, right here." Roxas pointed to his chest, where his heart was. His cerulean colored eyes caught Sora's and stayed there. "They are all I have now.."_

_Sora sighed and linked his hands behind his head. What was he going to do with this guy? He couldn't complain; Roxas acted nearly just like Sora in so many ways. Being stubborn was one of them, and also persevering for what he wanted and what was right. He also knew what Roxas was going through. Kairi and Riku were the only ones he cared for the most even though he had several other friends. Perhaps the blond haired boy was in more of a fix than he ever was._

_"Here.." he finally murmured, pulling something out of his pocket. It was a small black sphere with tendrils of gray swirling inside of it. Sora held it out to Roxas, waiting for him to take it. "I can't use it. I've never had a brush with death as close as you have, so it's never been a use to me." Roxas looked at him surprised. Not because he was giving him something, but because he knew about that time he was dead for a short time._

_"H-how-"_

_"Oblivion. That keyblade is rare to get a hold of. Only those who brushed with death itself can use it. And Oathkeeper-that can only be obtained by sacrifice. Obviously it knew your actions more than you did and appeared for you and you alone. You're something special, Roxas." Glancing at the orb, Roxas hesitantly took it. "Be careful there. If you have to fight, don't try to win with pure strength. Win with the strength of this." He pointed to Roxas' heart, where his hand still lingered, then stepped back. Roxas glanced down, then stared at his feet._

_"Thanks, Sora. I...I owe you one." When he didn't get a reply back, he looked up. Sora was no where in sight. Well, might as well go for it before time ran out. If there was still any time. Going by pure instinct, Roxas stepped up to a wall and stared at it, then at the orb. Maybe it would work. He pressed it against the wall and almost instantly a black portal appeared._

Raking both hands through his hair, Roxas made up his mind. He had to go now or else it could be too late. Taking a breath, he stepped through the portal before he changed his mind again.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

_"Sir.. they escaped. And Xigbar has been annihilated." No reply. "Should I catch them and put them into the second division cells?"_

_"No. There's only one way out and they won't be finding that. Plus, there won't be any use for them anymore. Roxas has arrived. Kill them for all I care."_

_"Yes, sir." He turned to leave, set on locating those worthless scum._

_"And Saïx. Don't harm Roxas, even if you run into him. Just.. toy around with his friends."_

* * *

Oyyyyy. I hope you guys like this chappy. My excuse for them being short before this: the ending is coming! Yes I just thought that up. Funny eh? No, I don't think it is. :o Anywho, next chappy.

_**Moonie -luff-**__  
_


	24. Close Proximity

AN: Rawr! Yeah, I think there's one more good chapter left after this! What's even better is that I only need 250 more hits to reach 6000 (not much.. but you know.. its a lot for me!!!) Hurrr lol um. Well, not sure what else to say. So.. on to talking with Faye, because she reviews a lot. x3

_**Faye:**_ Yes, all good stories do have endings. Some bad and some good. Wonder what this one will be! -evil laughter- Anywho, just wondering if you got my PM. I guess it sends the message to your email. lol Hopefully you look at it because it has some _info_ in it. x3 Anyway, luff to you for reviewing so much and making me proud of my work and to make me work harder. Chuu -luff-

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Roxas rubbed the back of his head, completely confused. Hadn't they just passed through this hall moments before? "God, I hate this building! It's all the same-white, bleak, emotionless walls that look the same every turn we take! Who the hell would want to live in a place like this!?" he growled. His anger was hitting the top of its limit for three reasons: no direction whatsoever in this place, and the fact they had discovered **nothing** of interest nor anything about Roxas. Plus it didn't help that Demyx kept playing with his new sitar and his water powers. Spinning around on one heel, he faced the blond with a flat look. "Do you mind? Hearing water splash every five seconds gets rather annoying. I don't know about you, but I can't exactly get _drenched_ like before because then I can't use **my** power. Do you understand that?" 

Demyx had been swirling a handful of water in the air like a snake, making intricate patterns and moves with it. But when Axel talked to him in that murderous voice of his, it dropped to the floor with a small _splat_. "Sorry," he mumbled. When the redhead turned his back on him and went through a door, Demyx stuck his tongue out stubbornly. "You need to loosen up. It's not like we're gonna be stuck here forever. What's the worse that could happen, anyway?"

"Uh.. that.." Both boys turned to look at Zell, who was pointing to an area on the other side of the room they emerged in. A figure stood on one of the pillars dressed in a black cloak-just like Larxene and Xigbar. Was this some sort of club or something? Axel squinted his eyes to look at the figure better. From his spot, he could see an x-shaped scar between his eyes and his hair was blue-silver tinted and seemed to pass his shoulders a little. So who the hell is this?

"Runaways..Hm." As much as he wanted to kill them, Saïx thought better of it. He did say to toy with his friends, so why not play a game? "Let's play a game. Perhaps.. Hide and Seek? A simple child's game."

"Yeah, bullshit. What are you guys trying to pull with all this stuff? Black cloaks and scars and weird hairdos." Axel didn't seem too enthusiastic. In fact, he **wasn't** enthusiastic. He didn't even want to deal with this guy.

"Ah, but you haven't listened to it all. It isn't _just_ a game. It's a game for your life." He then pulled out a weapon. It resembled a sword, but also a hammer in a way. Awkward... "If you can find a way out of here before I find you, then you're free to go. But if not, and I find you, I'll kill you without a second thought." He knew they couldn't find a way out-it was just as the Superior said. There was only way and it was impossible for them to find it. In fact, if they did, they'd be more than dead.

"I don't really feel like playing a game. So.. can we just go?" said Demyx with a chipper smile, in hopes of it helping. Fat chance. But a smirk appeared on the cloaked man's face and lifted a hand toward the trio. What the hell was he doing?

Before they could react, they felt their balance shift. Axel glanced down to see himself sinking in a pit of darkness, almost like quicksand. Then it was pure dark, void of anything and everything except the blackness. He felt suffocated. What was this? Some sort of voodoo magic? Dammit, he had to get out of there. He started to struggle, feeling his limbs lethargic instead of active. However, in a matter of mere seconds, his eyes flashed open to reveal himself struggling on the floor of a room. Glancing around, Axel pushed himself to his hands and knees, and eventually to his feet.

"What.. is this place?" he muttered aloud to himself. Pictures were on the wall, as if to tell a story. But he couldn't comprehend it. The room was bland a white, a white bed placed in the northwestern corner and a desk against the eastern wall, near the door. Curious, he headed toward the ivory desk and pulled open the main drawer. Papers were scattered inside, writing scribbled on each of them. Axel picked a few pieces up, glancing at the wording. It seemed like gibberish and broken sentences accompanied with a few doodles here and there. A heart, shaded in black was at the top of one and he guessed it was about the heartless. On another piece of paper, there was a doodled heart, but this time it was gray-either Nobodies or Lost Souls. They seemed the same.

On the next page he flipped to, it caught his attention. It was simply a doodle page with a large white heart. Lines were drawn around it to indicate it was shining and pure. Below it was a quick scribble of the backside of a person, but he would recognize that hair from anywhere. _Roxas.._ he thought. Axel hadn't even noticed that his breath was caught, his lungs burning for air. Were they indicating his heart was something special? Was that what Xigbar had warned him about? This was too weird, and he couldn't help but wish things returned to the way they were in Zorbinth, before everything became crazy.

A noise caught Axel's attention and he quickly stuffed the papers back into the drawer and closed it. It sounded like somebody had closed a door; maybe it was his imagination?

No, there it was again. That cloaked guy, no doubt. He knew Axel was in here and he was trying to freak him out and get him stressed. Villains were always like that. Summoning one of his chakrams, he began to back up toward the bed, holding his weapon behind his back. Any second, that door would open and reveal the scarred guy. _The least he could have done was give a name..._ he thought unceremoniously. The knob began to turn in the midst of his thought and his grip tightened on the chakram. As soon as the door opened, revealing a head, he sent his weapon flying without hesitation.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Every other room was hopeless. It was pure white, nothing interesting. He had been running through the building nonstop until he had reached this hallway. His head wasn't feeling too good either. Roxas had practically tumbled down a flight of steps just because the portal was above the ground. Stupid thing. Well, the last room and no luck so far. Hopefully it made a difference. He turned the knob slowly, then jerked it open quickly and stuck his head in. What he didn't expect was a spiked circular thing to fly at his head and embed itself into the door frame.

Axel blinked; it was the only thing he could do when he saw the boy. His face had visibly paled and he looked like he was about to faint. But was that really Roxas? "...Roxas?" A pair of cerulean orbs looked his way, widening a bit as they did. Roxas was shocked. Too shocked, it seemed, to even say words. His mouth floundered open like a fish without the slightest hint of words coming from it. Axel started forward and pulled he boy into a tight hug, uncaring if the boy momentarily suffocated against his chest. "Jesus, what took you so long?! I was tired of waiting so I broke free-we all did. We thought we could find a way out on our own, possibly find you if you got into trouble-"

"_This isn't a dream..._" Axel paused in his words and looked down at the boy. His shoulders were shaking lightly and he could feel his shirt beginning to get damp. "_This.. isn't a dream..._" A smile worked it's onto the redhead's face and he planted a hand on top of Roxas' head.

"Of course it isn't, kid.. I'm as real as it gets." Quietly, he took his chakram, making it disappear, and closed the door. He didn't want to take a chance of that guy finding them and killing them unexpectedly. That would have been a case of bad luck. Suppressing a small sigh, Axel backed himself against a wall and sat down. Roxas gladly followed him, keeping his face imprinted into his chest. It had been a long while since he felt the comfort of the redhead and he wanted it to last. "Take it easy, ok? I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Just...relax."

When he least expected it, Axel felt fingers on his face, moving slowly. Glancing down at Roxas, he found he was staring up at him with a lost look in his eyes. Just the brush of Roxas' fingers and his vacant puppy dog look brought a small blush to his face. That made the boy smile lightly. "Made ya blush..." he murmured, snuggling closer to the redhead. He was just cute. Maybe too cute, because Axel couldn't help but tilt his head up and lay a kiss on his mouth.

The way Roxas reacted was completely different from the night at Marluxia's. He had been rough and demanding. Now he seemed shy and hesitant. But he liked that. It was something different he found he liked more than before. He had missed him, maybe more than the kid had missed Axel. It just felt good to have him in his arms again.

Axel's teeth grazed Roxas' lower lip and the boy opened his mouth without a fight, letting the redhead snake his tongue inside. A heat spread through Roxas' face and throughout his body, a small noise emitting itself from his throat in the midst of the kiss. His fingers latched onto Axel's shirt, as if it was the only thing that could keep him up as it continued. The redhead's hands shadowed under the boy's shirt, lifting it as he moved steadily along his skin, and began nipping at his neck lightly.

"Nng...Ah..." murmured Roxas. Axel only paused in his meticulous work to pull the shirt over the boy's head, then resumed without hesitation. The next thing Roxas knew, he was flat on his back and Axel was towering over him. Deja vu much? But it was different this time. Still... "N-not.. on the floor." His voice was shaky, he heard it. But he honestly didn't want it to end up like last time. And that only made Axel smirk.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Zell rubbed the back of his head, a major headache beginning to set in. What the hell kind of trick did that guy pull? Oh well, he was on solid ground now.

"Long time no see, chickenwuss.." Zell paused and lifted his eyes. Impossible.

"I thought you were-"

"That's where you always go wrong. You actually think. Everyone goes wrong when they **think**." Zell wasn't mistaken. Despite the bandages around the right side of his head, it was unmistakably Seifer. It must have been a miracle for him to fall all the way to the cement and still live to see today without any memory or brain damage, let alone being crippled. "Get on your feet. I wanna enjoy killing you, so you better fight back and fight back good."

Zell didn't hesitate to leap to his feet, ready for Seifer's attack. But it never came. He simply stood there, smirking. Perhaps he was wrong. Maybe Seifer was mentally challenged after all. Taking the chance, Zell sped forward and unleashed a flurry of attacks on Seifer. However, every single attack was dodged or blocked in swift movements. Finally breaking the chain of punches and kicks, Seifer grabbed the boy by the shirt and threw him across the floor hard enough to make him slide right into the wall.

The blond shook his head and sat up. His vision was blurry from impact and he couldn't quite pinpoint Seifer as he advanced on him, the gunblade pointed toward him. Every two steps, Seifer shot off a bullet, purposely missing. But by every bullet that was shot, the next one was ever so much closer. When his vision _did_ clear, Zell glared up at Seifer, who was only a couple of feet away. The gunblade was pointed straight at his head, an insane grin on the trigger happy guy. He might not have been crippled or hurt severely, but he definitely was mentally unstable in the sane department. Too bad; he had been a good SeeD. When he tensed his hand on the ground, forming a plan in his mind, he was knocked senseless. Did Seifer just **kick** him in the head? Damn him. That bastard was going to pay for that move.

Zell swiped the back of his hand across his mouth, leaving a smudge of blood in it's wake instead of the trickle that had slid from the corner of his mouth. "Don't think I don't know you. I knew you were thinking. What did I say about that? You'll lose if you try!" He snatched the boy up by the collar of his shirt, making him wince with slight pain. "You were a good boy, Zell. I thought you were bent on finishing your mission. I mean, you **were** a SeeD. Do you remember what happened to Squall when he failed to comply?" The blond furrowed his eyebrows angrily at the cocky insane version of Seifer. Squall had gone missing, ditching the life of a SeeD, but Zell knew he was still alive somewhere. If only he knew where..

A swift knee to his gut brought Zell's thought to an end and he doubled over on the floor. A cough itched his throat until he finally subsided into a coughing fit, spitting out blood onto the floor. "You remember that brat you protected? He's going to die tonight. He's literally going to get that heart ripped out of him and I'm going to be there to see it. I'm going to be the one to lead the boy to him and see this scene play and to watch the pain it causes him. I will kill all of you **one by one** and laugh every time you begin to beg for mercy. That is.. if you can even speak by then."

Seifer turned back around to see Zell glaring daggers at him in anger. Quickly shooting forward, Zell swept a foot behind his legs and his fist came straight into contact with Seifer's chest, making his landing even harder. Zell knew he was off guard. He hadn't showed he was planning something. In fact, he hadn't thought of his offense until he had taken off. The boy snatched the gunblade from Seifer's hand, backing away. He wanted to spare his life-it wasn't Seifer's fault he was that twisted now. It was his own fault. However, he didn't have time to think about sparing his life when he lunged at him. Zell rose the blade, feeling Seifer's body impact with the tip and slide a majority of the way through. Staring in surprise and fear, Zell let go of the hilt after a few seconds, backing away. He was already dead by the looks of it. Shaking his head, the boy remembered Axel and Demyx. He had to find them.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

"Can't you do better than that? It's pathetic!" Demyx knelt on the ground, blood smeared across the left side of his face and still dripping from a cut on his scalp. It hadn't been more than twenty minutes after roaming that he was found by the man dubbed Saïx and had been fighting for what seemed like hours. He was a very skilled fighter and his weapon dealt more damage in one hit than he wished. Demyx simply had water, in which he could turn to ice sometimes, and a sitar, which was next to nothing compared to him.

Standing on his feet again, Demyx held both of his hands together in front of him, then pulled back his right one as if pulling back a bowstring. It was barely visible, but a faint glimmer in the air showed water collected and eventually solidifying into an icy arrow. Demyx let it go and did this several more times in a row. Only a couple of his arrows hit Saïx, but the rest were easily tossed aside.

"Aim for his stomach or heart!" Demyx heard Zell's voice reach him from his right. Glancing quickly, it looked like he had had his own little tumble with someone. However, in that quick movement, Saïx was now only three feet away from him, weapon poised to strike. But before that could happen, Zell was already between the two.

"Zell, no!"

"Foolish brat."

"Yeah.. I get that a lot.." he murmured after the damage was dealt. Saïx had plunged the sword right through him, just barely stopping in front of Demyx's own stomach. His hands were still poised for another arrow, which had built up since Zell spoke. "Just... do it, ok?" Demyx was confused. He had only just arrived and already he sacrificed himself just so he could kill the guy. Not wanting to disappoint the boy, Demyx let his arrow go, watching it rip through Zell's right shoulder and bury itself where Saïx's heart should have been. Sure it was there, but it wasn't a heart unless it had true emotions, more than just a desire for death and pain and misery.

Saïx's laughter resumed to echo through the room after every trace of him was gone and finally disappeared minutes after. Demyx had ignored it, letting Zell's head rest in his lap. God the boy really was stupid. What was he thinking? Just running in front of something like that was... stupid...

"You have to find Axel and Roxas. Get them outta here, ok? Some guy is gonna take Roxas' heart somehow. I don't know what Seifer-"

"Seifer?!" Zell nodded weakly, then coughed violently. Demyx immediately let water drip from the end of his gloved fingers onto Zell's face like a miniature shower. He was sweating and bleeding badly. _Of course, he just got stabbed you moron.._

"I don't know a lot. But apparently this guy has plans. We can't let Roxas stay here.." The younger blond's breath began to come in shallow gasps, his teeth gritting together. Demyx held himself back from crying. There was no point, even though he cared for the boy. He'd been a great fighter and rambunctious, keeping the group lively. What will happen when he's gone? "Quit thinking like it's the end! Who knows. It doesn't end like everyone expects it to all the time."

"Yeah..." But Demyx knew it was over when he felt the last shudder of breath nearly fifteen minutes later, feeling no response from his pulse nor the movement of his chest. He was going to miss that kid...

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Roxas carefully slid out of the bed. It had taken him ten minutes just to maneuver himself out from under Axel's arm without waking him. Man, were these memories never going to fade. If only he had his journal; he guessed it was still lost in Twilight Town. He had never had the chance to grab it before Marluxia pushed him into the portal he created. Marluxia... He wondered if he escaped Larxene's ugly grasp and survived. Probably. He didn't seem like the weak type anyway.

Roxas pulled his shirt back over his head. He had somewhere to go. He didn't know for sure, but he had an extremely strong gut feeling about it. But before he slipped out the door, Roxas took the time to plant a quick kiss on Axel's cheek, his lips quivering. Hopefully it didn't end the way he thought it possibly could. That'd be a sad ending.

Once outside of the door, the boy glanced down both ways before turning to the left. He had to go up. Go up until he couldn't anymore. And eventually he found himself at the doors of the last room on the highest floor. This was it. His answer was in here. His heart felt it could burst out of his chest any moment because of his fear. Roxas wasn't sure what was behind these doors, but as any curious person would think, it was the final moment to find out. Cheesy, yeah. But it was the truth. With a very slow deep breath, he pushed one of the doors open with a shaky hand.

_"Welcome, Roxas.."  
_

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Oooo what's gonna happen? -insert eerie mystery music here- Well, one good chapter left. At least I'm gonna try and make it good! Kind of a surprising ending, I would like to think. So review! You get tons of luff for it.

Oh.. and cue "Will of the Heart" (from Bleach) during Zell's agonizing death in Demyx's lap. It suits it perfectly!!

_**Moonie -luff-**_


	25. Final Dreams And Wishing

AN: Last chapter. :[ I'm not feeling too happy. I like typing this one thought. But I have to say this first: I didn't have it up earlier this week because I spent the weekend with my brother and never had a chance to even think about my story. But here it is! Um... let's see.. there was something I wanted to say.. Ah. I remember. Giving thanks to a few people, because I love them so much. A few of these people have reviewed, which made me a fluffy happy person. But all of these people are those who favorite and/or put this story on alert!

AeroFlux AkuRoku55  
Amakurikara  
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Chaos princess2  
crystalice24201  
DemmyandZexy  
Edo-kun's Angel  
Faye Silo  
FluffiBunni82  
Higuchimon  
Jade Feline  
LearaCuroe  
Orcadia  
Phoenix of Blackfire  
PopTartAddict  
Sinnamonxx  
Schectersona  
Serious-Sarcasm  
Tala Kiwi-Assilien  
Tayels  
Vata Raven  
Yamashina-chan  
bluemoonalchemist  
ff-kh-luvrgrl  
hermione494  
phaz  
talshair30  
Xita14

So thanks! Also, after this chapter is put up, it won't be long until this fic reaches 6000 hits. Hopefully my next fic will be better. I'm planning on making one straight modern day, so.. yes... it will be better. /fangirl reaction mode

Anywho, enjoy the chapter. :)

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_"Welcome, Roxas.."_

Roxas immediately pinned his deep oceanic eyes on the back of the man ahead of him. His hands were laced together, held at the small of his back as if he had been in the military. The silver-white hair spilled just below his shoulder blades and he wondered if the man was..old. He didn't sound like it, but it was a possibility. Who was he anyway? And how did he know his name? Those questions were more important. Roxas took a step forward, but stilled once the man began turning around. His hands clenched into fists, his eyebrows furrowing.

"How do you know me? What do you want? Who are you?" he asked defiantly.

"Roxas. I know everything about you. I know that you've spent countless nights blaming yourself for the death of your mother. I know that you used to wish you could commit suicide or murder your father, uncaring of the consequences. I know that you've been running for the past couple of months from a father that hasn't existed in your world since you left that town." He heard a gasp from the boy and glanced at him, amber eyes shining menacingly.

"Wh...What do you mean? Are you telling me he's dead?" _Of course he's saying he's dead! Quit acting so stupid and let it sink in. This guy obviously has been stalking you or something..._

"Not only him, dear boy. But your friends, too. That one blond boy... spunky, had an attitude. He died first, sacrificing himself so Saïx could be defeated by the water bearer. I'm disappointed two of my men are gone, but at least you're here. Which means I can carry on with my plans." Roxas was only barely paying attention, but he saw the brief flash of red in time. As soon as the aerial blade was thrust toward him, a keyblade knocked it to the side harmlessly. This caused a sick smile to play across the man's mouth. "Well trained, too. Interesting. Perhaps I'll have to try harder than I thought."

Holding both keyblades in his hand, Roxas felt he was ready for it. This guy proved to be a danger, someone who shouldn't know him. However, most of his confidence left him when dozens of those crimson aerial blades appeared in the room, surrounding both of them but pointing toward _him_. Squeezing the hilts of his keyblades, Roxas felt a trickle of sweat run down the side of his face. He gritted his teeth together before he darted to the left, triggering the blades to slam down in his wake and follow him. He rounded the room, making a slightly intricate pattern in his run to throw off the blades. But he made his way toward the man. In a split second, he leaped forward, both keyblades poised to slice through him, but he was stopped with one of those blades again. But this one seemed more crimson colored and sharper and larger than the others.

He pushed off and landed on his feet in front of the man. He didn't cease to take a breather. Instead, he dashed forward, using his keyblades skillfully and quickly to slash at his opponent. Most of his attacks were evaded, however, which made him angrier. He needed to attack harder and with more strength. He needed to get this guy onto his knees and beg for forgiveness. He wanted to know what he did. Roxas wanted answers. When Oathkeeper flew out of his hand, Roxas paused and breathed heavily, his sapphire orbs glaring daggers at him.

"Who the hell are you, for crying out loud?" he snapped. He was tired of referring to him as 'the man' in his mind whenever he thought about him. In particular, it was annoying.

"Xenmas."

Then he felt pain. Straight into his chest. Roxas' eyes were wide, his teeth clenched together to hold in a cry of pain-or maybe it was surprise. Because when he looked down, Xenmas' hand had disappeared into the left portion of his chest. Several beads of sweat trickled down his pale face. Was he imagining all of this? This was just a dream right? Any moment, Roxas expected to wake up in that bleak white bed next to Axel. To wake up and be perfectly ok, if not worried about their safety in that place. To be able to turn toward the older male and kiss him awake, just to see those emerald eyes sparkle with a happiness he liked to see. Because he knew that that exact happiness reflected in him.

The image shattered in his mind, the muscles in Xenmas' arm tightening as his fingers grasped his target. His chest convulsed, his mouth worked in the process to say something, but instead a scream emerged. Roxas clawed at his arm weakly. Pain. It was all that surrounded him. It was all that was left. How? His vision was beginning to turn just as bleak as the room they were in. It was impossible.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

Axel jerked into a sitting position, letting the sheet fall limply into his lap. The warmth he was hoping to wake up to was gone, and by the empty room, had disappeared. It was most definitely not a dream, seeing as his clothes still littered the floor. As he remembered their earlier event, a pink tint came to his face. Not because of their encounter, but because he hadn't given a damn that they were in a highly dangerous place. The kid had a big effect on him, no doubt. Muttering curses under his breath, Axel slipped from the bed and began pulling his clothes on. Worry was number one on his emotional list. Great.

His mind wandered, his emerald eyes lingering on the desk as he stepped toward the door. He hadn't finished looking at those papers. With his curiousity as strong as a cat's, he stayed in the room and summoned himself to look at the pages again. The writing was practically chickenscratch, but he was able to decipher most of it.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

_Shadowed hearts. Creations of Heartless. A big mistake. We seek for something more. He isn't happy with the outcome. Sadly, it's all we can do for now. Our plans seem to be going smoothly, so perhaps he'll change his mind, despite it being a mistake. But as time keeps progressing, I fear that he isn't willing to comply with what we have. The Heartless are too clingy, shadowing everything around us and making it too difficult to control them. We all feared that we might be overcome by these shadows and fail miserably in their wake..._

Roxas' air supply was now cut short. He couldn't fight back. There was no will power behind him, no hope. There wasn't an ounce of strength to help him through this. Perfect. Now his life should start flashing before his eyes, or he could start his regrets. But even his mind wouldn't allow him to relay those memories or words. Perhaps he was already dead and he didn't know? Most likely. He felt sorry. Not for him, but for everyone else.

_...traces of them still remain, however. We can only give thanks to his power and, although he says it was simply to rid the infestation, I have a feeling that he wanted to keep us around. He depended on us to help with the plan if we are to be a part of it. I would gladly give my life to see this paradise he has conjured in his mind. It'd be a priceless thing. However, these heartless dreams of mine have to cease. We have bigger problems to deal with now. We had experimented again and came up with something better than the Heartless. We were at a loss as to what to call these creatures, but he gave us a very simple answer. Nobodies. Because they were made from the same entity was we were. No hearts, but they were in us, beating uselessly. I feel that we could have..._

Xenmas grinned as the boy's eyes began to flutter and weaken. He could have had his prize by now, but he wanted to see this boy suffer. To make him wait so long, to toy around and run uselessly. He had been fed up with it since he had arrived in Twilight Town. So he had sacrificed Larxene to interrupt their little fun time. However, he was extremely disappointed when the plan was torn to shreds, thanks to that blond's pink haired friend. But he had gotten something in return to ensure Roxas would appear. His friends. And now he didn't even have them-they would be too late in their arrival now.

_...foiled our plans a second time. I wish I could kill the runt and get it over with, but not even he would give the order. He had said he'd deal with the boy personally. When none of us could find him, we knew he was true to his word. And then we continued with our research, studying all day and all night. I personally thought it was a waste, that there was nothing more out there that would help him achieve our goal. But that was before we came across this one little town, rundown and sluggish at sight. There was a boy there who stood out like a white flower that was mixed in with black and red. He looked like he could be the key to..._

Roxas couldn't think anymore. He couldn't even continue his weak retaliations on Xenmas' arm. Now he just stood there limply, only held up by the man's arm deep in his chest. His eyelids close involuntarily, hiding the dull sapphire eyes beneath them. What was it that Sora had said? He remembered the boy faintly, but not the words. His voice couldn't even be summoned. Then he saw a light flash beneath his closed eyelids. Or was that just in his mind? Perhaps. _"...something special, Ro.."_ Huh? What was that? Nothing but noise. He was sure of it. _"..don't try...win with...strength of.."_ Dammit, this wasn't making any sense. Stupid death voices.

_...white heart. I told him of the finding and I could see something change in his eyes. I was proud I could be useful, that I was the one that might have found the key at last to our paradise. He wanted the boy immediately, so he had one of us cover as his father. The poor boy didn't realize that the car that almost ran him over one day was his idiot drunken father, who had gotten into a crash two minutes after that. He made Xaldin hire SeeD members; one proved to be truly useful, but the other had gone soft and joined the kid's side. That angered him and most of us hid and continued our studies to stray from his animate anger in the air. Then he began sending us in to deal..._

His heart. His heart was the key! He remembered Sora's words. Not to fight with pure strength, which his mind kept telling him to do before then. But to fight with his heart was completely different. How was he going to? He couldn't move, couldn't open his eyes. Roxas could barely think as it was. Then that light flashed again. Damn it was bright. Again. Roxas clammed his eyes shut tighter. He needed to fight back and win. He couldn't leave just yet. Not with this crazy guy on the loose. Slowly, he regained his sight and looked up at Xenmas. His eyes were no longer dull, but brightly sparkling with the promise of getting rid of him. "Sayonara..." he rasped quietly.

_..is his heart. The key to open a new vast power to create one single world under our control. We would have our hearts back, to be able to feel and function correctly. But I think, the more that it plagues my mind, that it would be the downfall of all of us in the end. Even with a paradise from him, from the Superior, we wouldn't stay like that forever. But the boy's heart, our key, made of pure white despite his trials through life. It is clean. Surprisingly, I've been feeling regret for him lately. It isn't fair to end his life simply because of his heart. He's had enough to go through. So why do I care...?_

_"Roxas..." Papers fluttered uselessly to the ground as the door slammed open. He had to try and make it to that room._

Roxas saw the faltering look on Xenmas' face as he took the hilt of Oblivion in both hands, quivering with the need to end it and kill him. Roxas smirked, thinking not of his physical strength, but of his friends and his memories of the days back then, all of it coming in a flash. His mother was a major part in it, but Axel, Demyx and Zell were included. He also thought of Marluxia, Hayner, Olette and Pence, even thought back on Naminé. She wasn't so bad and was most likely a good person at heart. His mind then pictured the people at Radiant Garden. Sora, another keyblader, Cloud, Kairi, Riku, Aeris, Merlin, Leon. Everyone there was a help. And by this time, Roxas knew the difference between his strengths. He felt his fingers tingling, his breath coming a big easier. With a slow breath, Roxas tightened his hold on his keyblade, still looking at a faltering Xenmas as if time had stopped just for him to reminisce. Then Oblivion was sticking through the man's chest, where his useless beating heart lay.

Roxas felt himself falling to the ground, a glimpse of Xenmas struggling to pull out the keyblade caught as he did. A hiss was heard, then the clatter of the keyblade as it fell to the ground. He was gone, and his plan foiled. But how come Roxas couldn't push himself up? He was too weak, his body feeling cold and clammy when he had been perfectly fine just a few seconds ago. _Axel.._ he wondered what the redhead was doing now. Probably still sleeping, knowing that lazy bum. A smirk graced Roxas' mouth at the thought and he let his eyes drift shut.

Then he was being pulled up, shaken lightly. It hurt his head. What was going on? Couldn't he rest for a moment?

"Roxas! Open your god damn eyes!" Roxas complied and opened them weakly, finding pools of emerald staring at him. Axel? He wanted to say his name, but he couldn't find his voice, let alone move his mouth. "Hey, don't worry about it. You..don't have to explain a thing to me. Just lay there, ok? Rest up a little. You look a bit pale in the face.."

Roxas felt thing fingers close around one of his hands and hold tightly, rocking his small frame back and forth as if he was a baby. "I guess... I did too much again.." he was finally able to choke out.

"I don't think you were ever the bright one in picking fights."

"I saw it..."

"What?"

"Destiny Islands. When I was in Twilight Town, I did something stupid. I thought maybe I was dead, but I found myself on a beach not long after being helped from the darkness. It was beautiful. I'm pretty sure it was Destiny Islands.." he murmured, closing his eyes. Roxas took a shuddering breath and tightened his own fingers around Axel's. "You guys kept appearing, but you disappeared, too. There was a moment when you came back and comforted me, so I held on to you. That time you didn't leave. And you said..." Roxas paused, feeling a cold tear trickle down the side of his face and disappear into his hair. Then Axel's free hand found itself stroking the blond's hair lightly, encouraging him to continue if he wanted to.

"You mentioned the promise you made. About you and Demyx sticking with me no matter what. You were the one that gave me the extra boost when I wanted to give up and stay in that paradise. You were...no..." Axel waited for him to continue, but when he looked down, he saw a troubled face on the boy. Tears threatened his emerald eyes and he placed his hand on Roxas' face, willing him to calm down.

"I was what? Tell me, Roxas, I'm still here," he said, hiding his tearful voice. But it didn't matter. Roxas opened his eyes anyway, a small smile dispelling the painful face. It was the first time Roxas had seen Axel cry at all. Maybe he didn't want him to anymore, after the first tear that dropped onto his cheek.

"You still are..." he muttered, taking in another gulp of breath. "...my guardian angel.."

"I..." Axel swallowed the lump in his throat, resting his forehead on the boy's. His lips lightly caressed Roxas' and he closed his eyes momentarily. "I love you...Roxas."

"Love you, too.." The redhead could hear the whisper of his breath passing slowly in those words and his hand gripped onto the boy's shirt.

Axel was then blinded by white light and he felt the weight of Roxas lift from his lap. His mind began to panic and his heart hurt badly. Tears were flowing unchecked down his face now. When was the last time he had cried? Axel reached out a hand in the midst of the light, trying to see, but it wasn't any use. "Roxas!" Then a hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him away.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

_Beep..._

The stench of the air gave him a headache. What was that? Sterilizers and old people, it seemed. What the hell?

_Beep..._

He tried to open his eyes, but when he inched them open, bright lights flashed in his sight and he closed them tightly with a hiss. Damn brightness...

_Beep..._

What was with that beeping, anyway? It was getting annoying. Wasn't he dead? Surely there was no beeping where dead people go.

_Beep..._

Roxas lurched forward in the bed, his eyes snapping open despite the bright lights. His head hurt, his left arm hurt...hell, his whole body seemed to hurt. And he was surrounded by white. A white plastic curtain hung on a bar, isolating him from everything else. To his left was a small table which a few things were set on. He wasn't even going to look through it curiously. However, what was placed on a trolley cart on his right caught his attention. Papers. A whole stack of it. He gathered them up and set them on his lap, reading the first major article.

_**Restless Spirit Laid To Rest**_

Radiant Garden. They were probably referring to Sephiroth. He had sacrificed himself to save Cloud, but Roxas was glad that it paid off. He had even survived from that.

_**Pink Haired Boy Found Nearly Dead In Apartment**_

Marluxia. So he had lived? Well, if any of it even happened. It didn't seem that way. Roxas could distinctly remember _dying_ in a big white building after killing some Xenmas guy. And Axel... Shaking his head, he continued.

_**Haunted House Proved Worthless By Local Kids**_

Heh, where he had encountered his first Lost Soul. Also where Naminé he disappeared after saving her. He was only lucky that Hayner, Olette and Pence had been there not long afterward to snap him to reality and defeat the creature. With a sigh, he laid that one aside as well.

_**Missing Girl Admits Runaway**_

Roxas remembered.. Naminé? No. That wasn't the name. It was some other girl, he saw. But it stated that she had gone missing two weeks after her arrival and didn't turn up for nearly a month. He flipped to the next paper under it.

_**Drunken Citizen Falls Five Stories**_

Roxas blinked as he read the article. This one was from Zorbinth. And Seifer was the person they were talking about. From the looks of it, he had survived, but he would be mentally unstable and unable to walk. Good riddance.

_**Two Boys Fall Victim to Coma**_

Another one from Zorbinth. But this time Roxas had to swallow a lump in his throat. _He_ was one of those boys. And Zell was the other. What had happened to him? From the article, Roxas was hit..by a car? He kept reading as if clarified that the driver was none other than his father. Zell had fallen into a coma mysteriously. Strange much? His eyes then fell on the article just below that, his eyes beginning to widen.

_**Drunken Father of Comatose Boy Wrecks**_

_And doesn't live..._ he finished in his mind. So his father really had died. But why did he feel tears emerging from that? Maybe it was because he didn't have Axel or Demyx. He didn't have a place he could run to or call home. He was alone without a guardian. Roxas remembered what he had said to Axel, about him not wanting a foster family. _Damn that guy. If I remember him, then why don' t I see him here?_ He skimmed the back of his hand across his eyes and laid that article aside.

What was on the bottom of the pile made his brows furrow in confusion. Was that... his notebook? He flipped open the cover and looked twice before turning the page. A paper was slipped into the pocket-he hadn't put it there. Carefully, he took it out and glanced at it. It wasn't an official paper, but it had a signature stamped onto it. And words below it, scribbled hastily it seemed, stuck out. Fresh tears ran down his face unchecked and he set the paper down. Then they did know him, that this wasn't a dream. He lived with them now.

He flipped through the pages of his notebook, seeing several pages filled when he hadn't written so much. The same handwriting as was on the paper. Had Axel done all this? His hand quivered when he held the back of the notebook, staring at the last page. A little sketch was there, drawn almost perfectly if not for a few smudges here and there. One figure had flaming red hair, spiked back, and the other had messy blond hair. Each was sitting on the ground, their backs pressed against one another. Both of their heads were tilted downward, but the redhead's was slightly tilted, showing one of those triangular tattoos underneath his eye. The redhead wore a simple black zip-up hoodie and a pair of dark blue tattered jeans with red and black shoes. The smaller boy wore nearly the same thing, but tan jeans replaced dark blue, and white and black shoes replaced red and black. A heart had been drawn in the background, obviously colored in by a white colored pencil. Scribbled beneath the picture were their names: Axel and Roxas. A tear fell silently underneath those words, his thumb feathering over the next three words. _I love you..._

"I..was never a good artist.." Roxas snapped the book shut and looked up. He probably looked like he'd gone through a train wreck, died, revived, gone through burning hell and died again, only to revive once more and burst into tears that stained his face once dried. But he didn't care. Axel didn't care. And just at the sight of the redhead, it brought more tears. God, he was a crying wreck.

Roxas calmed almost immediately when he felt the bed sink and a pair of arms slide around his body carefully. He had almost forgotten his was bandaged for a reason. "Was it real..?" he muttered hoarsely. It hurt to speak. Maybe he had been out for several days. "How..long have I been in the coma?"

"About five to six months...And to be honest, I don't really remember a whole lot of what I did during that time. Demyx either. He's visiting Zell right now. But we both think..maybe we've been dreaming this whole time. Like maybe we were in our own coma and didn't know about it." Roxas latched his fingers into the hoodie the redhead wore, burying his face into him to smell the old spice and caramel. It was Axel. And he couldn't help but murmur something into his chest. "Hmm..?"

"I...love you. I love you, Axel," he repeated, pulling away to look at him. A soft smile graced Axel's gentle features, giving that happy sparkle to his eyes.

"I know, kid. I love you, too."

* * *

BAH! It can't be over! ... /crickets... It is. But I plan on making another fic soon, so don't worry. Look out for it. Umm.. but as a heads up, I'll be leaving on Friday (August 3rd) to visit relatives in North Carolina for a week. And I'm rather sure they don't have the internet up there. They're lazy bums. So to occupy myself, I'm taking Wolf's Rain and Fruits Basket to watch and my PS2 along with Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, Okami and possibly Sims. I need to indulge myself in a world of fantasy. hehe 

Anyway, as I was writing this chapter, I came up with some theme songs (except for Demyx. Can't think of one for him...) I'ma list them. Even if you dun want me to! (And I suggest listening to them to get why I put the songs with them, or at least try to grasp the concept! x3)

Roxas: Let Go - Frou Frou

Axel: Let the Flames Begin - Paramore

Random (like a movie!): We Are Broken - Paramore ; Happy Together - The Turtles

Um.. but yeah.. wasn't that big. Hope you guys like the story. And all that fun jazz... luff to all of you!

I've been getting questions and stuff in reviews about it being a dream. Yes! It was basically a dream. But it's one of those things that it was all in their head, but it still sort of happened, but didn't to the real world. And the reason why Zell was in a coma was because in the dream thing, he died. (I know; "But that was waaaay after Roxas got hit!") Well, my excuse for that is.. the paper didn't know what happened. LOL I know lame, but I want to say it was linked to his 'death' in the dream portion of the story. Then that would mean that he was only in a coma for a couple of days. But I didn't want Roxy-kun to be the only one in the hospital. [ I'm bad at linking stuff together... but I'm glad you guys still liked the story! lol major luffs to you.

_**Moonie -luff-**_


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